The Buffalo Bills returned home to Ralph Wilson Stadium for the first time in a month and treated the crowd to a 30-21 victory over the Houston Texans to remain players in the AFC playoff race with four games remaining in the season.
It wasn’t always pretty, but Buffalo did just enough to hang on against an equally-skilled Texans squad who remained in it for much of the afternoon.
“Man we needed that,” Head Coach Rex Ryan said after the game. “It was great being home. That felt strange to be back home cause it had been a while but we really needed that one obviously, playing against a team that was hot and you know a good football team. So big win for us.”
“Took almost everybody on the roster,” Ryan added. “We had the next man stepping up, is that old saying. But it was true there.”
The win improved the Bills to 6-6 on the year, moving them from 10th to 8th in the standings. The loss snapped Houston’s four game winning streak, taking a big hit to their own playoff chances. The Texans dropped from the final playoff seed of 6th all the way to 9th with the loss.
“Oh yeah; we knew the playoff ramifications of this one and we had to have it and I credit guys making plays down the stretch,” Bills center Eric Wood said after the win. “Defense stepped up and played great; we needed all [three] phases.”
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor continued his hot-streak, going 11 of 21 for 211 yards and four total touchdowns in the win. In the process, Taylor set a new Bills mark for completions without an interception, which now sits at 187 attempts as he continues to take excellent care of the football.
“We need to learn from this game,” Taylor said. “It wasn’t a perfect game from us by any means. There’s a lot of things we can clean up on offense and definitely some things we can clean up as a team. I know were down a couple guys being injured but, like I said, whoever steps in, we have confidence in those guys. Main thing is that we learn from the win and that we don’t just get complacent with it- that we learn when we win and when we lose. I think this team is definitely focused on learning and moving forward.”
Running back LeSean McCoy went for 112 yards on 21 attempts. It was the third time this season he has elapsed the 100-yard rushing plateau and the sixth-straight game the elusive back has gained over 100 yards from scrimmage.
Sammy Watkins continued his playmaking ways as well, hauling in two 53-yard receptions and ended his day with three receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown.
“I just tell him [quarterback Taylor] throw it as far as you can, I am going to go get it. That is what he has been doing. He’s just been looking the safety off, doing great with following through his reads and really just launching the ball and giving us a chance.”
The biggest story of Buffalo’s offense wasn’t how many points they scored, but who they stopped in doing so.
All-Pro and game changer J.J. Watt had just four tackles (one for loss), and was neutralized for much of the afternoon.
It was the first time in six games that Watt was held without a sack.
“I face double-teams, triple-teams every single week so it’s nothing new,” Watt said after the game. “They didn’t throw the ball a whole lot, and did a great job running the ball. They had a good scheme coming in. Their right guard and right tackle are out. They’re not just going to leave you go on those guys. I think they did a good job on that.”
Buffalo jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on their opening possession, scoring on a three-yard pass from Taylor to Watkins.
It didn’t last long, as just six minutes later Houston was able to cash one in of their own, a eight-yard pass from Brain Hoyer to tight end Ryan Griffin. A missed extra point by kicker Nick Novak would make it 7-6.
At the start of the second quarter, Taylor capped off a nine-play, 71 yard drive with a eight-yard run, stretching the ball just over the pylon to put Buffalo back up 14-6.
Houston would answer quickly with another touchdown from Hoyer, this time from 11-yards out, hooking up with Chris Polk to cut the lead to 14-13.
Just before the end of the half, Buffalo went on a seven-play, 71 yard drive which ended with a two-yard Chris Hogan reception for a touchdown to give them a 21-13 lead heading into the tunnel.
After a scoreless third quarter, Houston broke through to tie the game at 21 with a 19-yard DeAndre Hopkins touchdown reception with a little over nine minutes left to play in the game.
After each team had two more chances with the football, Buffalo proved the third time was indeed the charm as Taylor found a wide-open Charles Clay streaking down the seam for a 40-yard score to put them back ahead.
A missed extra point would keep the Bills’ faithful from enjoying the moment, as the Bills clung to a 27-21 lead with just 1:53 left.
Another strong defensive showing by Buffalo forced Houston to turn the ball over on downs on their ensuing possession.
Dan Carpenter would make amends for his earlier missed PAT, hitting a 36-yard field goal with 37 seconds remaining to seal it for Buffalo, 30-21.
“Well at least we’re still at it. We’re still competing for it,” Ryan said. “I think if we would have dropped this one then it wouldn’t have looked so good. So we’re right in the middle of them with a bunch of teams. But that’s the way it is. We want to make that last game [against the New York Jets] be for all the marbles, and to do that we gotta win all these.”
