The Buffalo Bills came into this season with Super Bowl dreams. Those hopes have dwindled down to praying Josh Allen can have a historic run of four games in the playoffs. Assuming the Bills make the playoffs.
The Bills are a surprising 7-4 after a rough outing against the Houston Texans, who won 23-19 despite being without quarterback C.J. Stroud, who missed his second straight start due to a concussion. The Texans (6-5) harassed Allen all night, sacking him eight times, a single-game career-high for the reigning NFL MVP.
The Bills’ defense allowed 20 points and more than 200 yards in the first half to a Davis Mills-led team, and saw linebacker Terrel Bernard and cornerback Maxwell Hairston leave the game with injuries.
The Bills had a shot in the final minutes to get the lead. They pulled off a wild hook-and-ladder play for 44 yards on fourth-and-27 to keep the game alive. But on fourth down in Texans territory, Allen threw an interception and the Texans had the win.
The Bills started the season 4-0 and are 3-4 since. They’ve had ugly losses to the Falcons, Dolphins and now the Texans.
Allen is one of the best players in football, but still hasn’t gotten Buffalo to the Super Bowl. That goal seems to be further away than it has been in a few years.
Texans come out strong
The first half was surprisingly entertaining and a funny thing was happening: The Texans looked like the better team.
Houston had 201 yards in the first half to 155 for the Bills. The Bills had two big plays, a 45-yard touchdown run by James Cook and a 97-yard kickoff return touchdown by Ray Davis, but there wasn’t much else. The Texans’ fantastic defense did a good job containing Allen. Houston also got a field goal off an Allen interception in Bills territory.
Mills missed a lot of passes and the offense still was effective. Mills did warm up in the second half with a pair of touchdown passes. His second touchdown pass was to rookie Jayden Higgins with five seconds left in the half. That gave Houston a 20-16 lead going into halftime.
The Bills came in expected to win, but they were fortunate they were trailing by only four points at halftime.
Texans D clamps down
The Texans’ defense, which came into Week 12 leading the NFL in points allowed and yards allowed, started to take over the game in the second half.
Allen isn’t an easy quarterback to sack but the Texans consistently got to him. A forced fumble after Khalil Shakir caught a short pass led to a Houston field goal. When the Bills went for it on fourth-and-1 in Texans territory, Cook had no chance. He was hit three yards behind the line of scrimmage. After the play, Allen slammed his helmet on the bench and seemed to say, “What are we doing?” in frustration.
Allen finished 24-of-34 passing for 253 yards and two interceptions, and Cook ran for 116 yards on 17 carries.
The Bills have turned to Allen time after time to carry them. There wasn’t much Allen could do against Houston’s defense.
Still, the Texans’ offense couldn’t put the game away. The Bills cut the lead to 23-19, with a drive that was cut short due to Houston’s intense pass rush. The Bills got another stop and their offense got the ball back with 2:48 left to play needing a touchdown to win.
Allen got the Bills moving downfield. Some quick passes picked up key first downs. But when Allen tried to scramble, he was sacked for the seventh time. That set up a third-and-20. Then on third down Allen was sacked for an eighth time. Allen was sacked only 14 times all last season. Usually Allen gets away with extending plays, but the Texans’ defensive line did a great job closing on him and making plays.
The Bills had a trick up their sleeve. On fourth-and-27, Josh Palmer caught a pass and pulled off a hook and ladder with Shakir. The play picked up 44 yards. The Bills were somehow still alive. But on fourth-and-6 after that, following a false start penalty that pushed them back five yards, Allen threw an interception that ended their hopes.
The Bills haven’t looked anywhere close to a Super Bowl contender since September. They haven’t even looked like a playoff team most of that time. Having Allen gives them hope for a late-season surge. But that hope might be dwindling.
Live coverage is over41 updatesThu, 20 November 2025 at 11:00 pm GMT-5
Yahoo Sports Staff