For the first time this season, the Houston Texans are over .500. Behind yet another monstrous defensive effort that included eight sacks of Josh Allen, the Texans upset the Buffalo Bills, 23-19, for their third straight win.

Davis Mills threw two touchdown passes and improved to 3-0 as a starter with C.J. Stroud (concussion) injured.

Will Anderson Jr. led an overwhelming pass rush: Allen’s eight sacks taken were a career high, and Anderson had 2.5 of those sacks and applied pressure seemingly all night. Houston also forced three turnovers, two of which led to field goals. Calen Bullock sealed the game with a last-minute interception.

Houston (6-5) remains eighth in the AFC, one spot outside the playoffs, but is now just a half-game behind the division-rivals Jaguars. The Bills, now 7-4, fall to sixth in the AFC.

After a slow start to the game, the final four minutes of the first half featured 24 combined points.

Down 9-3 late in the first half, Mills found an open Christian Kirk from 2 yards out for an easy score.

On the very next play from scrimmage, Allen forced a deep pass Elijah Moore’s way, and Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair read it well and tipped it away. Bullock came up with an athletic interception on the redirect and took it back for a touchdown, but the return was wiped out due to a block in the back. Ka’imi Fairbairn knocked through a field goal to make it 13-9.

On the ensuing kickoff, though, Ray Davis went the distance, at first running into his own man, 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. The hosts led 20-16 at halftime.

Then the defenses took over. Late in the third quarter, Bullock ripped the ball away from Khalil Shakir, and Justin Reid recovered the fumble, setting up another Fairbairn field goal to make it 23-16.

The Bills mounted three lengthy fourth-quarter drives, but the Texans defense came through all three times. On the first, it stuffed James Cook twice in short yardage, forcing a turnover on downs. On the second, the Bills were forced to settle for a field goal.

On the third, madness broke out. Allen took consecutive sacks — his seventh and eighth of the night — but Buffalo somehow converted a fourth-and-27 with a completion to Joshua Palmer, who then lateraled to Shakir for a gain of 33 yards.

Once again, though, the defense held. Dion Dawkins false started on a fourth-and-1, and Bullock picked off Allen’s fourth-and-6 pass to seal it.

Texans defense can carry the entire team

Houston’s offense can be hit or miss. The offensive line has improved throughout the season, but the run game has been one of the league’s worst, and the passing game has struggled with consistency, too.

But this defense showed once again it can carry the offense through even its roughest stretches. The stats listed above speak for themselves, but to fully appreciate this defense, one must watch how hard it plays and how aggressive it is. Anderson and Danielle Hunter play with a rare combination of skill, strength, smarts, aggression and quickness. They combined for 4.5 sacks, giving Hunter 11 on the year and Anderson 10.5. Anderson is a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year contender. 

It starts with Anderson and Hunter, but the importance of the defensive line depth cannot be understated. Derek Barnett and Tim Settle both had sacks, and Mario Edwards had a half sack. Linebacker Henry To’o To’o also had a sack. The Texans can rotate plenty of defenders, helping keep their stars fresh.

Allen finished with a season-low 5.4 net yards per attempt (which takes sacks into consideration). His -0.23 expected points added per were his third-worst over the past five seasons. He managed just 20 yards rushing.

“Just the defense staying disciplined,” Hunter said. “We had that gameplay all week, just focus on keeping him contained in the pocket, and I think we did a good job all around tonight.”

On the back end, we hardly even heard star cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.’s name, but when we did, it was due to key a pass breakup late.

Bullock was tremendous, becoming the first player this season with two interceptions and a fumble forced in the same game. He’s the first Texans player to do it since Marcus Coleman in 2003.

This unit is a tremendous mix of stars, depth, good coaching and good scheme. It is a complete force, one that can power a playoff push and potential playoff run.

Bills have serious defensive issues

The Houston defense’s dominance was a stark juxtaposition from the Bills’ relatively vanilla unit. Buffalo did not sack Mills, and its struggles defending the run continued. Houston, which hasn’t run the ball well, had 108 yards on 26 carries, not overwhelming numbers, but solid ones. More importantly, it had a 50% rushing success rate, its highest mark this year. The Bills struggled tackling and struggled to get much penetration. Not including a Mills kneel to end the game, Houston had just one carry for negative yards.

Buffalo also saw cornerback Maxwell Hairston (evaluated for concussion) and linebacker Terrel Bernard (elbow) leave with injuries; Bernard was in a sling on the sideline. Standout defensive lineman Ed Oliver is already out. Buffalo has had serious issues stopping the run, and they didn’t get much better. The effort in the second half was much improved, but a poor finish to the first half ended up being the biggest turning point.

Bills have offensive issues, too

It’s strange to say this about a team that is averaging the second-most yards per game this season, and one that scored 44 points in Week 11.

But the struggles cannot be ignored. Buffalo got nothing downfield to its wide receivers. Allen’s average completion traveled just 3.0 yards downfield, his second-lowest number this season. With no Keon Coleman — who has been a healthy scratch for two straight games — or Dalton Kincaid (hamstring), there just isn’t much receiving juice to threaten the defense vertically. Allen’s deepest completion was 18 yards downfield … to running back Ty Johnson.

Add in that the Bills now have nine turnovers in their past three games, and there are real issues here. Allen can go through these turnover-heavy spans and bounce back from them, but the last few weeks have not been encouraging.

Davis Mills gets the job done

If this is it for Mills’ starting run, it couldn’t have gone much better: a 3-0 record with five touchdown passes, one touchdown run and just one interception.

Thursday, he didn’t have to do anything particularly special, but he did a great job keeping the offense on schedule, and he came on strong with two touchdowns late in the first half after a tough start.

The Texans get another crucial game in Week 13 — at the Colts — and the Bills also have a big one on the road, visiting the Steelers.