The Buffalo Bills blow the clock in a walk-off field goal loss to the Houston Texans

HOUSTON – When the Buffalo Bills fell behind 20-3 early in the third quarter, they were already for dead and staged a valiant comeback in the fourth quarter to tie the Houston Texans with 3:18 left, but all of these Work ended in vain in the fourth quarter.

Thanks to a completely botched final possession deep in their own territory that resulted in a punt, the Texans were able to escape with a 23-20 victory as Houston's Ka'imi Fairbairn kicked a 59-yard field goal as time expired and Buffalo handed a well-deserved but nonetheless bitter defeat.

It's Buffalo's second straight loss and the memory of the 3-0 start is long gone, although the 3-2 Bills remain in first place in the AFC East because the Jets lost to Minnesota in London and finished 2-2. 3 fell behind.

It was overwhelming what happened at the end of that game. The Bills defense did a great job on Houston's second-to-last drive, but a great punt put them at their own 3 with 32 seconds left.

However, three straight Josh Allen incompletions led to a Buffalo punt, and the Texans needed just one play with seven seconds left to get Fairbairn in position for the kick. It was incomprehensible that Buffalo failed to run out the clock, and it cost them a chance at overtime.

Although the Bills recovered, their terrible start proved insurmountable as they played poorly in all three phases of the first half and looked incompetent for much of the first half.

Their offense couldn't get anything going and Josh Allen resembled the same player he was in his first playoff game in the same building in January 2020, the day he was nicknamed “Sugar High Josh.” At halftime he was 6 of 18 for just 56 yards and his decision-making was highly questionable, although that was largely because he had nowhere to throw the ball as his receivers either couldn't get on offense or get the ball dropped.

On defense, the Bills were led by CJ Stroud on back-to-back possessions, the second of which resulted in a one-play drive, a 67-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins that made it 14-3.

And on special teams, the punt coverage unit was burned long ago for a 36-yard return by Bill Robert Woods that set up a buzzer-winning field goal by Ka'imi Fairbairn that cut the deficit to 17 at halftime: 3 increased.

However, the game took a dramatic turn in the second half after the Texans scored another Fairbairn field goal that made it 20-3.

The Bills needed just six plays to score their first touchdown, a five-yard run by James Cook that was set up by a big 26-yard catch by Dalton Kincaid. And after a three-pointer in Houston, the Bills struck dynamically again.

On a fourth-and-5 at the Texans 49, Allen hit Keon Coleman on a quick out and the rookie turned it into a touchdown down the left sideline and suddenly it was 20-17.

Buffalo's defense then took control and forced two big turnovers in the fourth period. The first, a Terrel Bernard interception deep in Bills territory, put Houston points off the board. The second, a forced fumble by Dawuane Smoot that was recovered by Dorian Williams at the Texans' 15, set up Tyler Bass' tying 33-yard field goal.

But the Bills' failure to score a touchdown there really cost them the game, as in the end the Texans only needed a field goal to win.

Sal Maiorana has been covering the Buffalo Bills for four decades, including 35 years as a full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books on the team's history. He can be reached at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

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The Buffalo Bills blow the clock in a walk-off field goal loss to the Houston Texans

ByVanessa

By Vanessa

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