Houston’s dominant protection sacked Josh Allen eight occasions and Calen Bullock pressured three turnovers, together with his second interception sealing the Texans’ 23-19 win over the Buffalo Payments on Thursday night time.
Allen took consecutive sacks on the Payments’ ultimate possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, however Buffalo gained 44 yards on a brief cross from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
After a false-start penalty created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo (7-4), Bullock picked off Allen on the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
Davis Mills threw for 153 yards with two first-half TD passes to assist the Texans (6-5) to their third straight victory with C.J. Stroud sidelined by a concussion. Houston moved above .500 for the primary time this season.
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Buffalo Payments broad receiver Josh Palmer laterals to broad receiver Khalil Shakir for a 44-yard achieve following a cross from quarterback Josh Allen
Allen threw for 253 yards with no landing after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay final week.
He was harassed all night time, and the eight sacks had been essentially the most he is taken in his profession. Will Anderson Jr. had 2 1/2 sacks and Danielle Hunter had two.
Bullock pressured a fumble after a catch by Shakir with about 4 minutes left within the third and Jaylen Reed recovered it and returned it 9 yards to the Buffalo 22. The Texans prolonged the result in 23-16 on Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 26-yard area objective.
James Cook dinner was stuffed for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-1 on Buffalo’s subsequent drive to present Houston the ball. However Houston could not transfer the ball and punted.
Shakir took a brief cross for a 44-yard achieve, however Buffalo’s drive stalled after that and the Payments settled for a 38-yard area objective by Matt Prater that reduce the result in 23-19 with about six minutes to go.
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Buffalo Payments operating again Ray Davis goes coast to coast for a 97-yard landing off the kick return towards the Houston Texans
Anderson had his sixth straight recreation with no less than one sack, tying Mario Williams for the longest streak in a single season in franchise historical past. His second sack got here when he nearly took Allen down close to the road of scrimmage, however he wriggled away and Anderson acquired up and chased him throughout the sector to drop him for an 18-yard loss to power a punt early within the third.
Cook dinner had 116 yards dashing with a landing to present him 1,084 yards this 12 months, his third straight 1,000-yard season. He is the third participant in crew historical past to do this, becoming a member of Thurman Thomas (eight) and O.J. Simpson (5).
Cook dinner’s 45-yard TD run gave the Payments an early lead, however Prater missed the additional level.
The Texans had a primary down on the 6 on the following possession, however they settled for a 24-yard area objective to chop the result in 6-3.
The Payments led by six after one other area objective when Christian Kirk scored his first landing as a Texan on a 2-yard reception to place Houston on prime 10-9 about 4 minutes earlier than half-time.
Bullock intercepted Allen on a ball that was tipped and returned it 44 yards for a landing. However the rating was referred to as again due to a block within the again, giving Houston the ball on the Buffalo 25. Houston added a area objective after that to increase the result in 13-9.
Ray Davis returned the following kickoff 97 yards for a landing to place Buffalo up 16-13. Davis bounced off a defender and spun away from the group earlier than dashing down the sector and flipping into the top zone. It was Buffalo’s first kick return for a landing since a 101-yard return by Nyheim Hines on January 8, 2023 and the crew’s first on the street since C.J. Spiller’s 95-yard return at New England on September 26, 2010.
The Texans regained the lead when Jayden Higgins grabbed an 8-yard landing cross with 8 seconds left within the first half. The Texans acquired into scoring place with a 33-yard catch-and-run by Kirk.
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