The Buffalo Bills’ offense disappeared for the second week in a row. In Week 5, the Bills lost their second consecutive game against the Houston Texans, 23-20. They did so after the coaching staff and quarterback Josh Allen made some questionable decisions in the fourth quarter.
The Bills fought back from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter, but ultimately fell short as Texans kicker Kaimi Fairbairn made a 59-yard field goal over the uprights as time expired in the fourth.
With 32 seconds left, Buffalo had possession deep in their own half, and the game was tied at 20 points. All signs pointed to overtime, but the Texans had other plans.
Why did the Bills lose to the Texans?
With the game tied 20-20 with 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Texans punted to the Bills from their 49-yard line. Tommy Townsend sent in a great punt for Houston, and the ball went down at the Bills 3-yard line.
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Josh Allen and the Bills offense took the field with 32 seconds left. Buffalo steps back and passes for a first down. Allen fired a deep ball down the left sideline, but it missed rookie Keon Coleman.
At this point, Houston had taken all three timeouts. If they chose to run, the Texans would have been forced to burn everyone before getting the ball back.
The Bills throw again on second down. Allen tried to complete another deep ball down the seam to Mack Hollins, but this one fell incomplete. At that point, there were 21 seconds left on the clock, and all signs were pointing toward the Bills running the ball to shorten the clock. Instead, Allen stepped back to throw on third down, followed by another incompletion.
Buffalo was forced to punt on fourth down. Sam Martin had to take a heel kick into the back of the end zone. His punt would be returned inside Bills territory at the 46-yard line. With 16 seconds left and three timeouts left, CJ Stroud completed a short pass to put the Texans up to 41 points over the Bills. Fairbairn made a 59-yard field goal for the win.
Head coach Sean McDermott’s decision to throw all three downs before the punt has been questioned.
The Bills missed a chance to run time out in the final minutes of regulation and played for the win in overtime. Houston played the second half without star wide receiver Nico Collins out with an injury. After he left, the Texans’ offense struggled and the Bills had momentum.
Josh Allen had his worst performance as a passer in the recent game against Houston. He completed just nine of 30 attempts for 131 yards and one touchdown. Stefon Diggs, Allen’s former No. 1 receiver, was on the opposite sideline in a Texans uniform while the Bills QB struggled to connect with his current group of pass catchers. In Week 4, the Ravens shut down Allen and the Bills offense. There are lots of questions to answer heading into week 6.
Despite the loss, Buffalo remains in first place in the AFC East with a 3-2 record, but the offense is preparing for their matchup with the New York Jets on Monday Night Football in Week 6. There’s work left to do.