HOUSTON (AP) — Buffalo's Josh Allen was harassed by Houston's defense all night Thursday and it was no different on his last play of the game.
“Our d-line was getting to him and made him make that bad decision at the end and he threw the ball right to me,†Houston safety Calen Bullock said.
Houston sacked Allen eight times, and Bullock forced three turnovers, with sealing the Texans' 23-19 victory.
Allen took consecutive sacks on the Bills' final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo gained 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
Houston coach DeMeco Ryans was proud of his team for not getting rattled after that big play.
“They made a play on us but the thing about our guys is we don’t waver,†he said. “We knew what we were defending. The game isn’t over just because they made one play.â€
After a false-start penalty created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo (7-4), Bullock picked off Allen's pass at the 9 with 24 seconds left.
"We had a chance to win it there at the end,†Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.â€
Davis Mills threw for 153 yards with two first-half TD passes to help the Texans (6-5) to their third straight victory with C.J. Stroud sidelined by a concussion. Houston moved above .500 for the first time this season.
Allen threw for 253 yards without a touchdown after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay last week. He was harassed all night, and the eight sacks were the most he's taken in his career and he was hit four other times. Will Anderson Jr. had 2 1/2 sacks and Danielle Hunter had two.
"When they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,†Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it’s not a good way to keep our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.â€
Bullock forced a fumble after a catch by Shakir with about four minutes left in the third and Jaylen Reed recovered it and returned it 9 yards to the Buffalo 22. The Texans extended the lead to 23-16 on Ka’imi Fairbairn's 26-yard field goal.
James Cook was stuffed for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-1 on Buffalo’s next drive to give Houston the ball. But Houston couldn’t move the ball and punted.
Shakir took a short pass for a 44-yard gain, but Buffalo's drive stalled after that and the Bills settled for a 38-yard field goal by Matt Prater that cut it to 23-19 with about six minutes to go.
Anderson had his sixth straight game with at least one sack, tying Mario Williams for the longest streak in a single season in franchise history. His second sack came when he almost took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third.
“Tonight was just a perfect example of everybody just hunting relentlessly, doing whatever it takes,†Anderson said.
Cook had 116 yards rushing with a touchdown to give him 1,084 yards this year, his third straight 1,000-yard season. He’s the third player in team history to do that, joining Thurman Thomas (eight) and O.J. Simpson (five).
Cook's 45-yard TD run gave the Bills an early lead, but Prater missed the extra point.
The Texans had a first down at the 6 on the ensuing possession, but they settled for a 24-yard field goal to cut the lead to 6-3.
The Bills led by six after another field goal when Christian Kirk scored his first touchdown as a Texan on a 2-yard reception to put Houston on top 10-9 about four minutes before halftime.
Bullock intercepted Allen's pass on a ball that was tipped and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown. But the score was called back because of a block in the back, giving Houston the ball at the Buffalo 25. Houston added a field goal after that to extend the lead to 13-9.
Ray Davis returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown to put Buffalo up 16-13. Davis bounced off a defender and spun away from the crowd before dashing down the field and flipping into the end zone. It was Buffalo’s first kick return for a touchdown since a 101-yard return by Nyheim Hines on Jan. 8, 2023, and the team’s first on the road since C.J. Spiller’s 95-yard return at New England on Sept. 26, 2010.
The Texans regained the lead when Jayden Higgins grabbed an 8-yard touchdown pass with 8 seconds left in the first half. The Texans got into scoring position with a 33-yard catch-and-run by Kirk.
Injuries
Bills: LB Terrel Bernard left with an elbow injury in the third quarter. ... CB Maxwell Hairston left in the second half to be evaluated for a concussion.
Texans: CB Ajani Carter left in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury.
Up next
Bills: At Pittsburgh on Nov. 30.
Texans: At Indianapolis on Nov. 30.
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