Texans edge Bills

By Elwyn Henderson

    The Houston Texans hosted the Buffalo Bills in their second game at NRG Stadium in Houston in 7 days.  The teams came in with identical 3-1 records and both wanted to prove they were a team to be reckoned with in 2024.

     Houston won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half.  Ka’Imi Fairbairn kicked the ball out of the end zone and Josh Allen brought the Bills offense on the field for their first possession of the game.

     Houston forced a three-and-out and after 55-yard punt by Sam Martin, CJ Stroud brought the Houston offense on the field.  The Bills defense returned the favor, as the Texans went three-and-out.  Following Tommy Townsend’s punt, Allen and his unit set up in great field position for their second possession, as they began at the Houston 49.

     Allen moved the Bills down to the 9, but the Texans stiffened with 3 consecutive losses, forcing a Tyler Bass 38-yard field goal with 6:27 left in the first quarter.  The drive was 10 plays, 29 yards and took 5:37 off the clock, giving the visitors a 3-0 lead.

     The Bass kickoff after the score went out of the back of the end zone and Stroud and company began their second drive of the day at their 30.

     Stroud and the offense performed to near perfection on the possession, as they moved the 70 yards into the end zone over 3:32 seconds and 6 plays.  The TD came on a 15-yard run by Cam Akers with 2:55 left in the opening frame.  Fairbairn split the uprights and Houston led 7-3.

     Fairbairn’s ensuing kick was downed into the end zone and Allen and company set up at their 30 on their next possession.  The Houston defense forced another three-and-out and Martin was forced to punt the ball away again.  The kick was a short one and went out of bounds at the Houston 33.

     Stroud wasted no time getting the Texans into the end zone again in just 6 seconds!  He hit Nico Collins on a 67-yard bomb on the first play of the possession with 1:34 left in the quarter.  Fairbairn added the PAT and Houston led 14-3.

     The Texans defense was on fire on the next Bills possession as they forced yet another three-and-out that was assisted by a dropped pass that would have resulted in a first down. Bass punted the ball away and after a 17-yard return by Robert Woods Houston was back on offense again at their 19.

     Stroud led the offense down to the Bills 16, but a 4th and 1 run resulted in no gain and the ball turned over on downs to the Bills with 7:55 left in the first half.  Allen led his group down to the Houston 49, but a bobbled pass on a third down play resulted in Martin punting the ball down to the Texans 8 where Stroud and company came out to run their 2-minute offense.  They were not able to get anything going and punted the ball away, but Buffalo couldn’t muster much on their next possession and the Texans got one more chance to add to their lead.

     They moved the ball down to the Buffalo 32 and with 3 seconds left in the half, Fairbairn came in to kick a 50-yard field goal to end the half.  The kick was good and Houston led 17-3 as the teams headed to the locker room.  The drive was 6 plays, 19 yards and took 30 seconds.

     Bass kicked off to begin the second half of play and Stroud led Houston on an 8-play, 41-yard drive that took 3:45 and ended with a Fairbairn 47-yard field goal with 11:15 left in the third quarter.  With the successful kick Fairbairn because the Texans all-time leading scorer with 770 points, surpassing Kris Brown’s 767 points.

     Following Fairbairn’s kickoff that resulted in a touchback, Allen led his offensive unit on the field knowing full well they had to score a touchdown and get back into the game before it got away from them.  They did just that, moving the 70 yards to the end zone in 6 plays that took 2:27 off the third quarter clock.  The score came on a 5-yard TD run by James Cook with 8:44 left in the quarter.  Bass added the extra toping and Houston’s lead was cut to 20-10.

     The Texans got the ball back at their 30 after another touchback.  The score by the Bills offense fired up their defense.  They sensed they now had a chance in the game, and played lights out, forcing a three-and-out and after Townsend shanked a 4th down punt the Bills set up on their 35 with 7:06 left in the third quarter.

     Buffalo managed one first down and then the Texans forced a 4th and 5 at the Houston 49. Allen hit Keon Coleman on a 49-yard TD pass with 4:20 left in the third quarter, capping off a 5-play, 6-yard drive that took 2:46. Bass added the extra point, and suddenly Buffalo was within 3 points, trailing 20-17.

     Robert Woods returned the ensuing Bass kickoff to the Houston 25 and Stroud brought the offense out, knowing they needed to get into the end zone and get momentum back on their side.  It looked like that might happen, but an ill-advised holding call resulted in a punt back to Buffalo.

     Allen and his troops began their drive at their 19 with a chance to take the lead with a TD.  Houston woke up when they so needed to, forcing a Martin punt from the Houston 45.  The kick was fair caught by Woods at the Houston 12 and the offense hit the field again.

     Stroud was moving the team down the field for what looked like might turn into a touchdown, but he was intercepted on an ill-advised throw at the Buffalo 20 by Terrell Bernard with 8:06 left in the game.

     Houston came up big, forcing a 4th down punt, but Woods inexcusably fielded the ball at his 2 with 5:50 left in the game.

     Houston got a good start to the possession, gaining 7 yards on first down.  Then disaster hit on the next play as Stroud fumbled the ball and Buffalo recovered at the Houston 15 with 4:21 left in the game. 

     The Texans defense prevented a touchdown, but on a 4th and 10, Bass came on to boot a 33-yard field goal with 3:18 left in the game, tying the score 20-20. The drive was 4 plays, 0 yards and took 1:03 off the clock.

     Houston got the ball back after the score on their 30 following a touchback of the Bass kickoff.  Stroud moved the offense down to the Buffalo 39, but on a 3rd down he was called for intentional grounding, moving the ball back to the 49 and forcing a Townsend punt.  Gilmer’s Kris Boyd downed the ball at the Bills 3 and Allen went to work with 41 seconds left in regulation.

     Houston forced three straight incompletions and after a punt that was returned to the Buffalo 46, Stroud came out with 7 seconds left in the game.  He completed a pass to the 41 and Fairbairn came in with 2 seconds left to try a 59-yard field goal for the win for Houston.  The kick was good as time expired and Houston got the walk-off win 23-20.  The drive was 2 plays, 5 yards and took 7 seconds.  The win moves Houston to 4-1 while the loss drops Buffalo to 3-2 on the year.

     When DeMeco Ryans faced the media following the big win he was asked his thoughts on the team being able to finish and getting a win in a close game.

     “Today it was just really cool to see our guys make the plays they needed to make in situational football. We stepped up and made the plays at that particular time there at the end of the half. Being able to get points, to end of game, just the way we ended it as a football team. Tommy [Townsend] getting a big punt for us. Pinning them there at the two. Defense standing up and making three big stops, and then ‘Rob’ [Robert Woods] with his return to get us at midfield. C.J. [Stroud] to Dare [Ogunbowale], it was just everybody working together. That was a big goal for us this week. How can you help the team win a game, and our guys were clutch in the critical moments.”

     When CJ Stroud held his presser after the game he was asked his thoughts on winning games where they didn’t play their best and how it helps the team going forward.

     “There’s a ton of things to always learn from, and I always say, man, winning in the NFL is not easy. Of course, you’re not looking at yourself like, Dang, we were perfect. Clearly, we’re not, but that’s every week. There are always things you can clean up. Some things are more abrupt, more noticeable than others, but I felt like when you can find a way to find a win, man, that shows you how much of a resilient team you are. You learn with a W, and that’s the best thing you can do. I’m super just proud of my guys to keep fighting and just keep working, keep grinding, keep chopping wood, keep carrying water because it’s not easy to play great four quarters of football, but the more we can do that, I think everybody can tell, we’re going to be a force to reckoned with.”

     During the game Fairbairn became the team’s all–time leading scorer and he held a press conference following the game.  Ka’Imi was asked what it felt like to get the title.

     “Yeah, it’s a special one. I don’t take it lightly. One guy definitely I have to shoutout is [LS] Jon Weeks. He’s been with me every step of the way, every single snap. So, he’s just a part of that as I am. I’m very thankful for him. And all my teammates. A stat like that doesn’t happen without everybody involved, offense, defense, special teams coming together and getting those points. Yeah, I’m happy. It’s incredible. I’m honored to be here for this long. I am hoping to score a lot more.”

     Houston hits the road next week as they travel to Foxboro, MA to take on the 1-4 New England Patriots as they hope to move to 5-1 after the contest.