Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills fell to the Houston Texans 23-19 on Thursday Night Football, dropping their record to 7-4 on the season. Houston’s dominant pass rush harassed quarterback Josh Allen and the offensive line all night long, resulting in a career-high eight-sack night. After totaling six touchdowns in Week 11, Allen totaled zero in Week 12 and threw two interceptions.
Wide receiver Keon Coleman was a healthy scratch for the second straight week, with wide receiver Curtis Samuel joining him, thanks to elbow and neck injuries. Buffalo placed wide receiver Mecole Hardman on Injured Reserve with a calf injury, and used its second of three practice squad elevations on wide receiver Gabe Davis, who will likely be signed to the 53-man roster this week.
D.Edwards G 66 (100%)
O.Torrence G 66 (100%)
C.McGovern G 66 (100%)
J.Allen QB 66 (100%)
D.Dawkins T 62 (94%)
D.Knox TE 57 (86%)
S.Brown T 53 (80%)
K.Shakir WR 44 (67%)
J.Cook RB 36 (55%)
G.Davis WR 36 (55%)
J.Palmer WR 33 (50%)
E.Moore WR 27 (41%)
T.Shavers WR 26 (39%)
Ty.Johnson RB 23 (35%)
J.Hawes TE 22 (33%)
R.Van Demark T 17 (26%)
R.Gilliam FB 11 (17%)
K.Latu TE 8 (12%)
R.Davis RB 6 (9%)
A.Anderson T 1 (2%)
The same offense that just scored a season-high 44 points in Week 11, accounted for just one touchdown and 19 points the following week. Allen (100%) may have thrown two interceptions, but this game is not on him in the slightest. The offensive line got flat-out embarrassed by the Texans’ elite pass rush, allowing 12 QB hits, 11 tackles for a loss and eight sacks.
Offensive tackles Dion Dawkins (94%) and Spencer Brown (80%) had nights to forget trying to slow down defensive ends Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. Brown was forced to sit out late in the game due to injury, and Dawkins, who missed four snaps due to injury, picked up his league-leading seventh false start penalty on fourth down on Buffalo’s final possession. It wasn’t all on the exterior line, though, as both guards struggled to limit the interior pass rush, too.
It felt like it was going to be a good night for the offense after running back James Cook III (55%) housed a 45-yard touchdown on Buffalo’s 10-play, 81-yard opening possession. However, that was the end of the scoring festivities on offense, as the only other touchdown came from a 97-yard kickoff return by running back Ray Davis (9%). Still, Cook totaled 17 carries and 116 yards on the night, and surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the third straight season in the process.
The wide receiver room remains Buffalo’s biggest question mark, and now everyone is talking about it, thanks to the whole Keon Coleman debacle. After a quiet Week 11 performance, wideout Khalil Shakir (67%) returned to his WR1 role, catching 8-of-10 targets for 110 yards; however, he lost a fumble in the third quarter, the first of his...
