Tag: AFC East

The Buffalo Bills could not complete a come-from-behind win in Houston against the Texans on Sunday, falling to an AFC playoff contender for the second consecutive week.

Buffalo’s second loss of the year ended with a final score of 23-20 in NFL Week 5 thanks to a 59-yard game-winning field goal by Houston kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn.

59 yards had significance more than once during the game.

On a 1st-and-20 in the first quarter, Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw a deep shot downfield to receiver Mack Hollins, who lost some acceleration watching the ball overhead and missed what could have been a 59-yard catch with a clear path to the endzone off the fingers of his extended hands.

Allen had the least productive outing of his career and his worst since he made his debut in 2018, completing a career-low 30% of his passes while going 9-of-30 for 131 yards and a touchdown with 54 yards rushing. 49 of those yards came courtesy of a single scoring play by WR Keon Coleman, and 82 yards of that production went scoreless.

“Starts with making better decisions on my part,” Allen said after the game. “I know I didn’t complete the ball at a high rate. I put the ball in harm’s way, especially in that first half.”

The Bills QB found himself on the wrong side of history, recording the lowest completion percentage in a game with at least 30 pass attempts in the last 30 seasons, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The offense struggled on first down and was also without their leading receiver this season, Khalil Shakir, who was out with an ankle injury. Without him, they looked one-dimensional, as the rest of the receivers struggled to get open or catch passes, only hauling in four catches.

Coleman had two catches for touchdowns in the last few games, though the Bills’ other significant 3-year $24 million offseason addition to the receivers group, Curtis Samuel, has yet to make a meaningful impact. There remains a clear need for a reliable deep threat and target in the passing game that can take the top off defenses, perhaps setting the stage for a signature Brandon Beane trade acquisition.

“We missed by a little bit,” Allen added of the offensive effort. “We were off slightly. That’s something I have to clean up. I’m proud of how we responded in the second half … we gave ourselves a chance to win the football game.”

Coleman took responsibility on the receiver’s side after only hauling in the scoring catch, missing another target, and getting flagged for offensive pass interference on a play as well.

“It was all self-inflicted,” Coleman said. “Mostly on me and the communication and doing what I need to do.”

He also spoke in support of his QB.

“I would never, ever criticize Josh ever,” he added. “He is the heartbeat of our offense and our football team. We go as he goes. He is the man. I could easily point to myself on one of those third downs, not being able to pick up one of the stunts. So, this game is not on Josh.”

Allen stood by his teammates as well.

“I’m proud of how we responded in the second half,” Bills QB Josh Allen said. “Got on our horses and gave ourselves a chance to win a football game.”

Even with the worst passing percentage performance of his career and an underwhelming lack of help, the Bills came back to tie the game twice and could have at least put the game into overtime by running out the clock.

“This isn’t a defining moment in our season,” Allen noted. “It’s a chance to learn and grow from this. That’s what we’re going to do.”

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The Buffalo Bills lost to the Houston Texans 23-20 during their NFL Week 5 road game on Sunday.

It was the Bills’ second loss of the season, coming in back-to-back weeks against AFC playoff contenders.

And like the week prior, coaching decisions once more came under question following the matchup.

The Bills came back from being down 20-3 and scored 17 straight points to tie the game with under four minutes to play.

Houston QB C.J. Stroud was flagged for intentional grounding making it fourth-and-15 to take the Texans out of field-goal range with under a minute left in the game. They punted, placing the Bills at their own three-yard line.

Three straight incomplete passes later, and the Bills had neither converted a first down nor run off the game clock, instead punting to give Houston the ball back with a chance to win.

One Houston made good on.

Buffalo could have run the clock down to have a chance to keep the game tied and go to overtime, a missed opportunity that proved costly.

“That’s on me, the end-of-game situation on offense,” head coach Sean McDermott said after the game “We’re in a tough situation … they were holding three timeouts, they got a good field goal kicker. We needed to run the clock and move the chains, and that’s on me. We didn’t do that there, and that’s my fault.”

Buffalo had a chance to keep a drive alive and potentially take a lead when they started a drive on their own three-yard line with under a minute left on the game clock.

But failed to do so.

“I love Josh with the ball in his hands — you know I do,” head coach Sean McDermott said postgame. “And again, efficient offense was the right approach there, and … I didn’t have us do that. And so again, we learned from that. Tough situation.”

McDermott and his staff have notably been scrutinized after their game and clock management near the end of the contest.

“… You go back and forth, and, hey, I probably should have run it on the first play and just said, ‘Hey, where are we now?'” He added. “Either way, we’re probably gonna have to move the chains one time, right? To not give them a chance. But again, those are situations and that’s on me.”

#Bills veteran on final offensive series of three passes and no rushes.

"I hope (the coaches) learn from it."

— Ryan O'Halloran (@ryanohalloran) October 6, 2024

“It sucks to lose any game, but especially when you come back all the way through, felt like we had good momentum going into the second half, into the fourth quarter there, but it’s the NFL. It’s a tough League,” LB Terrel Bernard said.

After Houston returned Buffalo’s punt 13 yards to their own 41-yard line, they gained 5 yards on the next play, which set up a 59-yard game-winning field goal.

On that last play before the kick, Bills linebacker Dorian Williams was late to get on the field before the snap, and corner Rasul Douglas noted postgame Williams may not have known the play call.

“We were trying to go nickel defense, and Dorian was on the side,” McDermott explained. “We didn’t have the communication we needed right there, and so because of that, he was late onto the field and getting the call in that situation.”

It was the latest instance of some drop-off in play by the Bills players.

“Overall we’ve been a little bit off our game from what we executed in the first three games,” McDermott added.

Defensive end A.J. Epenesa shared it was important that the team not “ride the roller coaster” of emotions following the two losses.

“Right now, we’re at a low,” he said. “We’ve lost two games, but we’ve got to try to stay as consistent as possible. We’ve had a lot of success on this team. We do a lot of great things. It’s just us shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s us making mistakes, which is allowing these teams to beat us. We’ve got to clean those things up.”

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