Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - It was another tough loss for the Buffalo Bills this past Sunday, falling short of a comeback victory over the Texans, 23-20, at NRG Stadium in Houston. It was Buffalo's second-straight loss, and drops the Bills to 3-2 overall with two critical losses against high quality AFC opponents.
Both sides of the football got off to a rough start for the Bills once again on Sunday, as Buffalo dug itself into a quick 14-3 hole in the first quarter. The deficit eventually swelled to 20-3 in the third quarter before the Bills were finally able to kick things into high gear.
The Bills were able to mount a comeback thanks to some clutch plays offensively, and the defense coming up with a pair of huge turnovers to keep the Texans at bay for much of the half.
With the game then tied at 20-20 and the Bills pinned at their own three-yard line and nearing 30 seconds remaining in regulation, a critical coaching decision was made to go with three passing attempts, rather than trying to run the ball and force Houston to burn their remaining timeouts. Instead, all three pass attempts fell incomplete, resulting in Buffalo punting deep from their own end zone.
After a return into Bills territory and a quick pass to get closer into field goal range, the Texans were able to close out a win thanks to a 59-yard field goal from kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn as time expired on the game clock.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen had one of the worst games of his career this past Sunday, only completing 30% of his passes for 131 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was also forced to leave the game for a brief period of time, as he was evaluated for a head injury, but was able to return and finish the game.
The loss of wide receiver Khalil Shakir was a significant blow for the Bills' passing attack, as Buffalo was unable to get much going through the air.
Related
Up next for the Bills is another all-important divisional matchup, this time with the New York Jets from MetLife Stadium on "Monday Night Football". It is the first of two matchups with the Jets this season, with the second game coming in Week 17 of the season back in Orchard Park.
The big storyline going into Monday night's matchup is what happened Tuesday morning in East Rutherford, New Jersey with the Jets firing head coach Robert Saleh after parts of four seasons with the team.
Taking over coaching duties for the Jets in an interim basis for the rest of the season will be defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
Monday night will also be the second time the Bills will face Aaron Rodgers under center after he was traded to New York from the Green Bay Packers during the 2023 offseason. The last time Rodgers played the Bills was last season Week 1 on "Monday Night Football", when the veteran suffered a torn Achilles just four snaps into the season.
The Jets are coming off their second-straight loss this past week in London to the Minnesota Vikings. Rodgers threw three interceptions in the loss, including one that was returned 63 yards for a touchdown.
Heading into this matchup, head coach Sean McDermott says starting nickel cornerback Taron Johnson (forearm) and Shakir (ankle) are improving, but their availability for Monday night will likely not be known until later in the week.
This loss Sunday in Houston hit Howard Simon harder than last week's loss to the Baltimore Ravens did.
Just two weeks ago, Howard had the Bills finishing with 14 wins following a hot-and-fast 3-0 start to the year. After two-straight losses, Howard has tampered his expectations a bit, admitting he picked the Bills angry this week.
Despite the added anger to his picks, Howard still has the Bills winning their next two games against the Jets and Tennessee Titans, but then things get ugly a little later down the road, with losses in three-straight games to the Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
In the end, given the landscape of the rest of the AFC East, Howard still has the Bills finishing with a 10-7 record, and likely winning a fifth-straight division title and hosting, at least, one playoff game.
Be sure to follow along on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the latest picks from Howard by using the hashtag #HowardPicksTheBills. You can also track all of Howard's picks throughout the season with Brayton Wilson's picks tracker on X: @BraytonJWilson.
You can listen to, as well as watch the latest edition of "Howard Picks the Bills" below:
