Davis Mills threw two touchdown passes, Caden Bullock had two interceptions and a forced fumble and the Houston Texans racked up eight sacks while notching a 23-19 victory over the visiting Buffalo Bills on Thursday night.
Will Anderson had 2 ½ sacks and Danielle Hunter had two as Buffalo’s Josh Allen was brought down for 70 yards in losses. Christian Kirk and Jayden Higgins caught touchdown passes as the Texans (6-5) won for the fourth time in five games.
Allen completed 24 of 34 passes for 253 yards and the two interceptions for the Bills (7-4), who lost for the second time in three games.
James Cook rushed for 116 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries for the Bills. Ray Davis returned a kickoff for a score and Khalil Shakir had eight receptions for 110 yards.
Mills completed 16 of 30 passes for 153 yards while starting his third straight game in place of C.J. Stroud (concussion).
The Bills appeared to be down to their final play when facing fourth-and-27 from their own 30-yard line. However, Allen tossed an 11-yard completion to Joshua Palmer, who then lateraled to Shakir for 33 more yards to the Houston 26 with 41 seconds to play.
Buffalo later faced fourth-and-6 from the Houston 22-yard line and Allen’s throw was picked off by Bullock, who stayed on his knees at the 9 with 18 seconds left.
Bills standout linebacker Terrel Bernard exited with 10:27 left in the third quarter due to a right elbow injury.
Mills tossed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Higgins with five seconds left in the first half to give the Texans a 20-16 lead.
Buffalo struck first on Cook’s 45-yard scoring run with 9:11 remaining in the first quarter. Matt Prater sent the extra-point attempt wide left.
Ka’imi Fairbairn (24 yards) and Prater (44) traded field goals before Mills threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Kirk to give Houston a 10-9 edge with 3:47 left in the half.
Bullock’s first interception of Allen set up Fairbairn’s 43-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining.
The four-point lead was quickly erased as Davis fielded the ensuing kickoff and raced 97 yards for a score to give Buffalo a 16-13 lead.
Fairbairn kicked a 26-yard field goal to give the Texans a 23-16 lead with 17 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Bills received Prater’s 38-yard field goal with 5:44 remaining in the game to get back within four.
–Field Level Media
