HOUSTON — Mark Brunell spent all week trying to ignore the criticism. Then he spent all of yesterday quieting it.

One connection after another, Brunell kept finding holes in the Houston Texans' shaky defense, breaking an NFL record for consecutive completed passes en route to Washington's first win. Brunell completed his first 22 throws and Clinton Portis scored two touchdowns in his first start of the season as the Redskins beat Houston, 31-15.

Washington had scored just one touchdown in its 0-2 start. Against the Houston (1-2) defense — which entered the game ranked last in the league — the Redskins got things turned around.

"It was a tough week — a lot of things being said," Brunell said. "So you do your best to block those things out and go forward, keep playing hard, keep working hard."

The 36-year-old Brunell set the new record when he found Santana Moss on 6-yard pass late in the third quarter. The old record was held by Oakland's Rich Gannon, who completed 21 straight against Denver on Nov. 11 2002.

"It's a nice honor, but the credit should go to the 11 guys who were on the field," Brunell said. "That's an offensive team record, really. The receivers were in the right spots, the offensive line did great. We ran the ball like we wanted to."

Brunell entered the game with a completion rate of 57 percent, sparking calls for his benching. He finished 24 of 27 for 261 yards and a touchdown and completed passes to eight different players.