Texans 23-20 Bills (October 6, 2024) Game Recap

HOUSTON – All week, Stefon Diggs downplayed how big of a deal it would be when he faced the Buffalo Bills for the first time since a blockbuster trade brought him to Houston.

On Sunday, after the Texans capitalized on a last-second field goal to claim a 23-20 victory, the star receiver finally admitted how important this game was to him.

“I’m not going to sit here and act like it’s normal,” he said. “It meant a lot to me and it was reassuring that the guys around me knew it meant a lot to me even if I didn't say it. I just try to keep it together and treat each week like it's all the same… but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't mean a lot.”

CJ Stroud threw for 331 yards and a touchdown, and Ka′imi Fairbairn's game-winning 59-yard field goal as time expired gave Houston the victory.

Diggs led the Texans with six receptions for 82 yards and said Sunday was an emotional day for him after spending the last four seasons in Buffalo.

“I was just trying to take advantage and get a win for my team, but of course it's emotional,” he said. “I play with a lot of emotions.”

Then he turned around, looked directly into the camera and whispered in a sing-song voice.

“I’m emotional,” he said.

The Texans (4-1) led 20-3 after a field goal early in the third quarter before the Bills scored 17 straight points with about 3½ minutes left to tie the game.

Stroud was called for an intentional grounding to reach fourth-and-15, putting the Texans out of field goal range with under a minute left.

A punt got the Bills to their 3 and they fumbled after three straight incomplete passes to give Houston one last chance.

“Overall, it’s on me,” Buffalo coach Sean McDermott said. “We just have to do a better job. I have to do a better job in this situation.”

Dare Ogunbowale had a 5-yard run to score the winning score for Fairbairn.

“It wasn’t all pretty,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “But it’s the way you finish at the end and I’m proud of the way our guys finished.”

Houston was without running back Joe Mixon for the fourth straight game and struggled offensively after losing leading NFL receiver Nico Collins to a hamstring injury after he scored a long touchdown early in the second quarter. Ryans said he struggles with the injury on a daily basis.

Josh Allen was 9 of 30 for 131 yards and a touchdown as the Bills (3-2) lost for the second straight season after opening the season with three straight wins. Allen struggled again before halftime on Sunday, managing just 56 yards passing for a week after throwing for 42 yards in the first half of a loss to the Ravens.

“Overall, we've kind of strayed from what we showed in the first three games,” McDermott said.

Dawuane Smoot's strip sack of Stroud gave the Bills the ball at the Houston 15 with 4½ minutes to play.

They had Mitchell Trubisky at QB on the first play of the ensuing drive while Allen was examined in the medical tent after hitting his head hard on the turf a few plays earlier. He got back into the game on second down but threw two incompletions.

The Bills tied the game with a 33-yard field goal.

The Texans were gaining with about eight minutes left when Terrel Bernard intercepted a pass intended for Diggs to give Buffalo the ball at the 20.

The Bills couldn't move the ball and had to punt, but soon got it back on the strip sack.

The Bills cut the lead to 10 when James Cook scored on a 5-yard run with about nine minutes left in the third quarter.

Rookie Keon Coleman's 49-yard reception on fourth-and-5 put the Bills up 20-17 on their next drive. Coleman slipped on a tackle and then darted down the sideline before spinning into the end zone for his second touchdown of the season.

The touchdown pass was the 231st of Allen's career, tying Patrick Mahomes for the most touchdown passes by a player in his first seven seasons.

The Texans took a 7-3 lead when Cam Akers ran 15 yards for a touchdown with about three minutes left in the first quarter. Ogunbowale had a 38-yard catch-and-run on third-and-5 to keep the drive going.

Collins jumped in front of the defense for a 67-yard touchdown reception on the first play of Houston's next drive, extending the lead to 14-3.

Fairbairn added a 50-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter and his 47-yarder early in the third quarter made the score 20-3.

Injuries

Texans RB British Brooks left in the first quarter with a knee injury. …S Jimmie Ward left the second half with a groin injury.

Next

Bills: Visit the New York Jets on Monday, October 14th.

Texans: Visit New England next Sunday.

——

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl