JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Houston turned a costly Blake Bortles interception into a touchdown as the Texans kept alive their playoff hopes with a much-needed 27-13 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday at EverBank Field.

It was the Texans first back-to-back win since the opening two games of the season. Houston beat Tennessee last Sunday 45-21. The Texans improved to 7-6.

Jacksonville fell to 2-11 and must win two of their last three games just to match their 4-12 mark last year.

Houston had put together a 16-play, 84-yard march in its first possession of the third quarter to take a 17-13 lead. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had completions of 10, 11 and 12 yards and running back Adrian Foster added 26 yards in eight carries to account for 59 yards. The scoring march took just under 8 1/2 minutes.

Jacksonville’s defense no sooner got to the sideline for a breather when it was forced to return to the field after Bortles was picked off by Texans safety D. J. Swearinger. Swearinger stepped in front of Jaguars running back Toby Gerhart and grabbed the pass and returned it to the Jaguars’ 26-yard line. It was the NFL-leading 16th interception by the Jaguars rookie quarterback this season.

It took Houston just six plays to cover the 26 yards with Foster scoring from a yard out on fourth down. Foster, who finished with 127 yards on 24 carries, was hemmed in on the right side but broke a tackle and reversed direction to score easily around left end. Randy Bullock’s extra point made it 27-13 and finished the scoring in the game.

Foster broke off a 51-yard run in the first quarter en route to his seventh 100-yard rushing game. It was the 31st such performance in his career, the most in the NFL since 2010.

Houston’s defense limited Jacksonville’s offense to just 73 yards in the second half after the Jaguars compiled 189 yards in the first two quarters.

Jacksonville used a pair of second-quarter field goals from Josh Scobee to take a 13-10 lead at halftime. On the first drive of the quarter, Bortles hit tight end Marcedes Lewis with a 20-yard completion to the Houston 40. But the drive stalled shortly thereafter and Scobee was called on to convert the first of his two field goals and tie the game 10-10.

The Jaguars then took the lead when they put together a 13-play, 67-yard drive with Scobee converting from 37 yards. They advanced to the 19-yard line but Bortles threw three consecutive incompletions and the Jaguars had to settle for three points.

NOTES: The Jaguars recorded two sacks in the first quarter, giving them 11 in the last three games and 39 for the year (third best in NFL)…. Jaguars QB Blake Bortles’ 4-yard TD pass to WR Allen Hurns in the opening 11 1/2 minutes was his first career TD pass in the first quarter. … Houston WR Andre Johnson went to the locker room early in the second quarter and missed the remainder of the game after he was diagnosed with a concussion. Johnson was hit by Jaguars LB Telvin Smith near the Texans goal line and was charged with hitting a defenseless player … Texans DE J.J. Watt had three more sacks in the game to run his season total to 14.5.