“Thursday Night Football” games have a tendency to get wacky, and Week 12’s edition is no different through two quarters. The Texans lead the Bills 20-16 after the final four minutes of the half featured 24 combined points.
The Bills got on the scoreboard first with James Cook ripping off a 45-yard touchdown run on third-and-inches to go over 1,000 rushing yards for the season. However, Matt Prater missed the extra point, meaning Buffalo only had a 6-0 lead.
Houston halved that lead on a Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal and, after a Prater field goal, took its first lead of the night when Davis Mills found an open Christian Kirk from 2 yards out for an easy score.
On the very next play from scrimmage, Josh Allen ripped a deep pass Elijah Moore’s way, but Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair read it well and tipped it away, with Calen Bullock coming up with an athletic interception on the redirect. The Texans’ safety took it back for a touchdown, but the return was wiped out due to a block in the back. Fairbairn knocked through the field goal.
On the ensuing kickoff, though, Ray Davis went the distance, at first running into his own blocker, spinning away from a would-be tackler and then outracing everyone.
The fireworks weren’t done. Mills led another long drive and capped it with an 8-yard touchdown to Jayden Higgins.
Allen has never lost on a Thursday, but he’s also never won in Houston so he has his work cut out for him. Stay tuned for our second-half analysis below!