Thursday night’s game was a coming out party for the Texans defense.
Houston allowed the fewest points and yards of any team heading into Week 12, but they’ve rarely been the center of attention the way they were against the Bills on Thursday night and they gave the expanded viewing audience a great example of what they’re capable of doing. They hit Josh Allen 12 times and brought him down for eight sacks while also forcing three turnovers in a 23-19 win.
The stats said the Texans had the league’s top defense heading into the game and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair said there was no doubt about it after the win.
“We definitely got [the best defense](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47045167/texans-defense-thumps-bills-stakes-claim-league-best) in the league,” Al-Shaair said, via DJ Bien-Amie of ESPN.com.” You just got to put it on tape every day.”
The Texans started the year 0-3, but their defense has sparked a turnaround that leaves them at 6-5 heading into road games against the Colts and Chiefs. If the unit can spur them to wins in those games, the Texans will find themselves squarely in the playoff mix and in the discussion for the top overall teams in the AFC heading into the postseason.
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