HOUSTON -- Though the official seemed to watch the replay of safety Chad Williams' fourth-quarter interception for an extraordinary amount of time, the Ravens rookie felt confident he knew the verdict.

It turns out Williams, whose interception clinched a 23-19 win for the Ravens over the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium yesterday, was right. The officials ruled Williams did not lose possession of David Carr's pass once his hands hit the ground at the Texans' 41. The Ravens were awarded the ball with under two minutes left and ran out the clock.

"I knew I had possession from jump," said Williams, who dived and barely got his hands under Carr's pass, which was tipped by receiver Corey Bradford. "It wasn't close to me, but it was close to the official and it looked like it was more close than it was."

Williams' interception came after the Texans had taken possession at their 32 with 2:13 left. Carr had thrown two incompletions, and on third down, Carr's tipped pass landed in the hands of a diving Williams, who rolled over on the ball as he hit the ground.

"I had black tape on my wrist, so you couldn't tell [the ball] from the ground," Williams said. "But I had it secured."

The play was originally announced as an incompletion, then changed to an interception once the officials huddled. The Texans challenged, something they should not have been allowed to do with under two minutes left in the game, and lost their last timeout.

"It was the Tony Dungy rule from the championship game," Ravens coach Brian Billick said, referring to a similar play in the 1999 season's NFC championship game between Dungy's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the St. Louis Rams. "If you catch the ball and have control of it as you simultaneously hit the ground, but never lose control, then that's a catch."

For Williams, it is the second game this season in which he made plays critical to the outcome. Against the Cincinnati Bengals two weeks ago, Williams blocked a punt and returned an interception for a touchdown to spark a Ravens' comeback.

"I love it," Williams said. "I love any time I get on the field, especially on third down because that is one of the most important downs on defense. If you win third down, you are doing a good job. So I don't mind coming in on third down."

Black goes all the way

With the Ravens seemingly in control of the game late in the third quarter, Texans punt returner Avion Black, filling in for former Raven Jermaine Lewis, took Dave Zastudil's punt 76 yards for a touchdown.

The score closed the Ravens' lead to 20-14 heading into the fourth quarter. It was the second week the Ravens had a breakdown on their punt team -- New Orleans blocked two punts a week ago.

Black fielded the 51-yard punt looking at his own end zone before turning around and heading straight upfield. After shaking a tackle, Black cut across the field and outran Zastudil to the end zone.

"Missed tackles I'm sure are to blame," Billick said. "I don't know for a fact. Guys losing their lanes and not tackling."

Black, who also returned kickoffs, had 206 return yards.

"I scooted up because the last punt return, he kicked it short," Black said of the touchdown "He boomed this one and I had to get back and catch this one like a receiver, with my hands. After that, I was just thinking about making one person miss, and I give credit to my teammates who gave their blocks."

Demps returns

Safety Will Demps worked his way back into the rotation against the Texans, replacing starter Anthony Mitchell in many obvious passing situations.

Demps lost his starting job to Mitchell last week against the Bengals and had played little in the base defense then.

"I was just getting back into the rhythm of it," said Demps, who finished with one tackle. "Coach said I hit that rookie wall, but I didn't want to use that as an excuse.

"Last week, I learned a lot, sitting down and watching. I was being more patient this week, having fun and getting better."

J. Lewis' shadow

Jamal Lewis had his own personal shadow in former Ravens linebacker Jamie Sharper.

Sharper led the Texans with 12 tackles and was a big reason Lewis rushed for only 49 yards on 20 carries (the 2.5 average was his lowest of the season). Lewis' longest run was 10 yards. Five of Sharper's tackles came on Lewis.

"I don't know if he was spying me or what," Lewis said. "But he played good. He played like Jamie. He's a good linebacker and it showed."

Safety dance

Rather than risk a potential disastrous punt, the Ravens had Zastudil take a safety by running out of the back of the end zone with just over two minutes left in the game.

The Ravens were forced to punt from their 12 after going three-and-out while leading 23-17. Zastudil took the snap and headed toward the end zone before a Texan finally chased him out of bounds and cut the lead to 23-19. The play took nine seconds off the clock.

"The biggest thing is you want to eat up time off the clock," Zastudil said. "I think they thought we were going to punt it, and I go back and dance around. We set up a wall so I can eat up even more time."

After the safety, punting from the Ravens' 20, Zastudil boomed a 65-yarder to Houston's 15.

Dazed and confused

Tight end Terry Jones could recall little about Texans safety Matt Stevens' fourth-quarter hit that left him dazed, but judging by his teammates' reaction, the play was questionable at best.

Jones hauled in a 27-yard completion from the Ravens' 26 with just under 11 minutes left in the game, then took one of the hardest hits of the year from Stevens. Replays showed Stevens led with his shoulder and not his helmet.

"I didn't see it but I felt it," said Jones, who had two catches for 35 yards. "Everybody else told me it was helmet-to-helmet, and it felt helmet-to-helmet.

"I was kind of dizzy. I heard a bell ring for five seconds, but I was fine after that."

End zone

Rookie Randy Hymes took the place of Ron Johnson as the receiver opposite Travis Taylor. "It was something I was looking forward to a long time," said Hymes, who had two passes thrown his way and finished with one catch for 11 yards. "I was hoping in the preseason that I would get a chance to prove that I can start and play in this league." ... The Ravens' inactive players were Anthony Wright, Dameon Hunter, Ray Perryman, Tom Knight, Mike Collins, Damion Cook, Lawrence Smith and Jeff Ogden.