The Buffalo Bills fell to the Houston Texans 23-19 on Thursday Night Football, dropping their record to 7-4 on the season. Houston’s dominant pass rush harassed quarterback Josh Allen and the offensive line all night long, resulting in a career-high eight-sack night. After totaling six touchdowns in Week 11, Allen totaled zero in Week 12 and threw two interceptions.
Wide receiver Keon Coleman was a healthy scratch for the second straight week, with wide receiver Curtis Samuel joining him, thanks to elbow and neck injuries. Buffalo placed wide receiver Mecole Hardman on Injured Reserve with a calf injury, and used its second of three practice squad elevations on wide receiver Gabe Davis, who will likely be signed to the 53-man roster this week.
Bills Week 12 offensive snap counts (66 snaps)
D.Edwards G 66 (100%)
O.Torrence G 66 (100%)
C.McGovern G 66 (100%)
J.Allen QB 66 (100%)
D.Dawkins T 62 (94%)
D.Knox TE 57 (86%)
S.Brown T 53 (80%)
K.Shakir WR 44 (67%)
J.Cook RB 36 (55%)
G.Davis WR 36 (55%)
J.Palmer WR 33 (50%)
E.Moore WR 27 (41%)
T.Shavers WR 26 (39%)
Ty.Johnson RB 23 (35%)
J.Hawes TE 22 (33%)
R.Van Demark T 17 (26%)
R.Gilliam FB 11 (17%)
K.Latu TE 8 (12%)
R.Davis RB 6 (9%)
A.Anderson T 1 (2%)
The same offense that just scored a season-high 44 points in Week 11, accounted for just one touchdown and 19 points the following week. Allen (100%) may have thrown two interceptions, but this game is not on him in the slightest. The offensive line got flat-out embarrassed by the Texans’ elite pass rush, allowing 12 QB hits, 11 tackles for a loss and eight sacks.
Offensive tackles Dion Dawkins (94%) and Spencer Brown (80%) had nights to forget trying to slow down defensive ends Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. Brown was forced to sit out late in the game due to injury, and Dawkins, who missed four snaps due to injury, picked up his league-leading seventh false start penalty on fourth down on Buffalo’s final possession. It wasn’t all on the exterior line, though, as both guards struggled to limit the interior pass rush, too.
It felt like it was going to be a good night for the offense after running back James Cook III (55%) housed a 45-yard touchdown on Buffalo’s 10-play, 81-yard opening possession. However, that was the end of the scoring festivities on offense, as the only other touchdown came from a 97-yard kickoff return by running back Ray Davis (9%). Still, Cook totaled 17 carries and 116 yards on the night, and surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the third straight season in the process.
The wide receiver room remains Buffalo’s biggest question mark, and now everyone is talking about it, thanks to the whole Keon Coleman debacle. After a quiet Week 11 performance, wideout Khalil Shakir (67%) returned to his WR1 role, catching 8-of-10 targets for 110 yards; however, he lost a fumble in the third quarter, the first of his career. Outside of Shakir, it was a very quiet night from the pass catchers, with running back Ty Johnson (35%) ranking second in receptions and yards.
Bills Week 12 defensive snap counts (59 snaps)
C.Bishop S 59 (100%)
C.Benford CB 56 (95%)
J.Poyer S 47 (80%)
G.Rousseau DE 44 (75%)
Ta.Johnson CB 41 (69%)
T.Bernard LB 39 (66%)
J.Bosa DE 39 (66%)
S.Thompson LB 34 (58%)
T.White CB 33 (56%)
D.Walker DT 31 (53%)
D.Jones DT 31 (53%)
M.Milano LB 31 (53%)
M.Hairston CB 29 (49%)
A.Epenesa DE 24 (41%)
J.Phillips DT 23 (39%)
L.Ogunjobi DT 22 (37%)
D.Williams LB 19 (32%)
T.Sanders DT 16 (27%)
C.Lewis DB 14 (24%)
J.Hancock DB 12 (20%)
J.Solomon DE 5 (8%)
The pass rush was very underwhelming, totaling just four quarterback hits and zero sacks on the night. No matter where the pressure was coming from, it couldn’t get home, and quarterback Davis Mills looked comfortable throughout the night. The run defense held Houston to 4.2 yards per carry, but routinely missed tackles on key downs, per usual.
Linebacker Terrel Bernard (66%) continues to disappoint after signing a contract extension in the offseason, and was seen wearing a sling on the sidelines after injuring his elbow. If Bernard misses extended time, it will be interesting to see the splits between linebackers Matt Milano (53%) and Dorian Williams (32%), with veteran linebacker Shaq Thompson (58%) likely leading the way. It’s worth noting that Milano was no longer on the field in base 4-3, an interesting first-time development for the Bills’ defense.
At one point, cornerbacks Christian Benford (95%) and Maxwell Hairston (49%) exited the game to be evaluated for shoulder and head injuries. Safety Cole Bishop (100%) was the only defensive player to play every single snap, with backups such as defensive backs Cam Lewis (24%) and Jordan Hancock (20%) receiving regular run in certain formations late in the game. Also, veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White (56%) is still splitting series with Hairston, and I wonder how long the Bills plan to do this.
It’s worth noting that defensive tackle Deone Walker (53%) logged the same number of snaps as veteran defensive tackle DaQuan Jones (53%), despite a heavy preference for Jones in Week 11. Jones and defensive end Joey Bosa (66%) were the only members of the defense to even get to Mills and record quarterback hits.
Bills Week 12 special teams snap counts (29 snaps)
J.Andreessen LB 24 83%
S.Franklin DB 24 83%
R.Gilliam FB 23 79%
D.Williams LB 19 66%
J.Hancock DB 18 62%
K.Latu TE 16 55%
C.Lewis DB 15 52%
J.Solomon DE 14 48%
R.Davis RB 14 48%
T.Shavers WR 12 41%
S.Thompson LB 11 38%
Ty.Johnson RB 9 31%
A.Anderson T 9 31%
M.Prater K 9 31%
D.Walker DT 9 31%
R.Ferguson LS 7 24%
M.Wishnowsky P 7 24%
J.Phillips DT 6 21%
G.Rousseau DE 6 21%
K.Shakir WR 6 21%
J.Hawes TE 6 21%
D.Jones DT 6 21%
C.Benford CB 6 21%
C.Bishop S 5 17%
J.Poyer S 5 17%
D.Edwards G 4 14%
O.Torrence G 4 14%
D. Dawkins T 4 14%
R.Van Demark T 4 14%
T.Bernard LB 4 14%
S.Van Pran-Granger C/G 4 14%
T.White CB 3 10%
M.Hairston CB 3 10%
A.Epenesa DE 1 3%
M.Milano LB 1 3%
Ta.Johnson CB 1 3%
Shoutout to Ray Davis (48%) for seemingly locking up the kick returner role and getting a 97-yard touchdown to give the team some sort of life. But, we’re upset with kicker Matt Prater (31%) for missing the extra point on the Bills’ first touchdown. Had the game been 23-20, Buffalo was likely tying it on its final possession of the game instead of going for it on 4th & 27.