Battle Red Blog
The Texans have had the pressure turned up to eleven all November long…and they just keep winning!
Each and every game since Davis Mills has mounted the starting job at signal caller, Houston has been clawing, scratching, and digging for every single point, barely escaping with victories that most other teams would have walked away with. Tonight’s pivotal Thursday night game against the Bills was no different: without Stroud and Jalen Pitre again, the Texans were going to have to prove everyone wrong and take it to the might Buffalo Bills. And, just like every other game this season, the game came down to the final minutes, held great tension, and was determined by a few plays on offense and defense that changed everything.
Davis Mills, after yet another abhorrent, abysmal, career-ending first quarter where you thought you’d grow a third arm before he completed a pass, came alive in the second quarter, miraculously led two touchdown drives to give the Texans the lead at halftime. The defense, as usual, was all over Josh Allen and the Bills offensive backfield, primarily thanks to a MVP-caliber game from edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. Besides the first quarter touchdown, the Bills offense was completely shut down, forced to two turnovers, and nearly scored a defensive touchdown via a Calen Bullock interception in the second quarter, but was nullified by an illegal block-in-the-back penalty by Derek Barnett. But, regardless, the Texans played excellent complementary football in the second quarter, and entered halftime leading 20-16.
And that would be it for the Davis Mills offense! As usual, the great neck retreated into his shell after a solid quarter, never to be seen again. The Bills did an excellent job dialing up blitzes on Mills in the second half, keeping him flustered and at his normal level of incompetency. In the entire second half. The Houston Texans offense totaled just 20 plays for 36 yards and two first downs. For a fleeting moment, you might have been fooled by Nick Caley and Davis Mills, thinking the second quarter performance was evidence they had improved. But, nope! As with every other game, the game was to come down the defense holding the Bills to an absolute minimum of yardage and points the entire second half…AND. THEY. DID!
Derek Barnett, Tim Settle, Dylan Horton, Henry To’oTo’o, and Danielle Hunter made life torture for Josh Allen…but none had an impact on the game like Will Anderson. Anderson LIVED in the backfield, totaling two sacks, two tackles for loss, and five tackles. But, despite all of that, Buffalo was able to nab a field goal in the fourth quarter, and get the ball back down four points with 2:48 left in the game. Houston’s defense sacked Josh Allen twice to make it fourth and 27 at the Buffalo 30 and Buffalo converted it with a hook-and-ladder play! You literally could not write a football game to have more tension and more ridiculousness in one game. Three plays later, and...
