What We Saw: Week 12 – Bills @ Texans

The Texans defense asserted its dominance on Thursday, leading Houston to a 23-19 victory.

Brett Ford
What We Saw 16 Hours Ago

Buffalo Bills @ Houston Texans

Final Score: Texans 23, Bills 19

Writer: Brett Ford (@FadeThatMan)

 

The Houston Texans entered Thursday night looking to extend their winning streak to three after battling back to .500 with consecutive wins, while the visiting Buffalo Bills came in hoping to keep pace with the AFC East-leading New England Patriots. Both teams leaned heavily on their running games in the early going, including a long James Cook touchdown to give Buffalo an early lead. The two teams traded field goals as it appeared that this one was headed toward another prime time snooze fest. But in the final four minutes of the second quarter, the two teams combined for three touchdowns as the Texans took a 20-16 lead into the halftime locker room. In the second half, the scoring slowed significantly as the Texans sought to run out the clock with a lead, playing extremely conservatively. It almost bit them in the behinds as the Bills had a chance at a game-winning drive in the final minutes, but their defense bailed them out with an incredible performance to earn the 23-19 victory. Let’s dig in.

Three Up

  • Jayden Higgins – The rookie wide receiver might not have had the biggest game in the box score, but he emerged as a legit perimeter receiver and red zone threat for the Texans.
  • James Cook – Cook looked really solid in the running game, but the Bills abandoned it early as the game script leaned pass-heavy.
  • Texans Defense – Eight Sacks! Two Picks! A forced fumble! Against the mighty Buffalo Bills offense? This defense is the best in the NFL without much doubt.

Two Down

  • Josh Allen – We all knew the Houston defense was good, but to keep the reigning MVP down THIS bad? Wasn’t expecting that.
  • Nico Collins – Collins saw his fewest targets (3) since the 2023 season, not what you want from a first-round fantasy draft pick.

 

Buffalo Bills

 

Quarterback

 

Josh Allen : 25/35, 262 Yards, 2 INT | 5 Carries, 20 Yards

In the first quarter, Allen was hit from behind and landed on his left hand (the one he fractured and played with broken all season), appearing in pain after he went down. In the second quarter, Allen forced a throw over the linebackers, didn’t get it high enough, and it was tipped and picked by the Texans’ defense. Allen was harassed throughout the night as his offensive line struggled to keep the Texans’ pass rush away from him. His longest pass play came on a flare pass in the flat that Shakir made about three Texans miss for a 44-yard gain. We saw just one designed run, a sneak up the middle that Allen converted for a first down very early on in the contest. It was an ugly night for Allen and his fantasy managers. Too bad there are no rollover points in fantasy football.

 

Running Back

 

James Cook: 17 Carries, 116 Yards, TD | 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 13 Yards

Cook set the pace for the game with an early touchdown scamper on third-and-short, breaking for a 44-yard touchdown after Reggie Gilliam opened a massive hole for him on a great block. He finished the first quarter with 75 rushing yards, and then was hardly used the rest of the game. Sure, the Bills fell behind and trailed much of the second half, but the way the Bills abandoned the run (and their offensive identity) so quickly is a huge red flag. Cook finally toted the ball again in the fourth quarter and immediately broke off a huge gain, but was stuffed on fourth-and-short later in the drive.

 

Ty Johnson: 2 Carries, 7 Yards | 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 45 Yards

Johnson caught a pass for an important fourth-down conversion in the second quarter and then got stuffed on a handoff up the middle on the very next play. He was in for most of the final drive, but he’s solely a pass-catching back.

 

Ray Davis: KRTD

Davis didn’t get any chances in the backfield but was electric on a huge kick return touchdown just before halftime, spinning past a pair of defenders and finding a gap for a special teams score.

 

Reggie Gilliam: 1 target, 1 reception, 2 yards

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Khalil Shakir: 10 Targets, 8 Receptions, 110 Yards, Fumble (LOST)

Shakir was targeted early and often, but it was almost exclusively in very short yardage areas, gaining just four yards on his first three receptions. He finally broke a flare pass for a 44-yard gain (48 yards after the catch) to save his fantasy managers’ day. But it wasn’t pretty getting to that point. With Keon Coleman a healthy scratch (again) and the Bills lacking pass-catching options, one would think that Shakir might be used more creatively as a playmaker throughout the game instead of waiting until a desperation final drive while trailing. That hook-and-ladder was so fun to watch, though.

NOTE: Shakir left the game early in the first quarter with what appeared to be a concussion. He was evaluated in the tent and returned to the game quickly.

 

Dawson Knox: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 17 Yards

Jackson Hawes: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 26 Yards

Gabe Davis: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 22 Yards

Joshua Palmer: 4 Targets, 2 Receptions, 21 Yards 

Elijah Moore: 1 target, 1 reception, -3 yards

A lack of options meant that Allen was left with the scraps in his receiving corps. None of the pass-catchers, sans Shakir, did anything notable (unless you count Josh Palmer’s front end of the hook-and-ladder). Davis was the closest to being relevant from a fantasy (and reality) standpoint, but couldn’t stay in bounds on an awesome almost-catch in the final minute.

 

Houston Texans

 

Quarterback

 

Davis Mills:  16/30, 153 Yards, 2 TDs | 2 Carries, 4 Yards

Mills started the game on a historically bad stretch, completing just one of his eight passes in the first quarter. He seemed to settle into the game in the second quarter, completing 9 of his next 12 passes to enter halftime with a respectable completion percentage. He connected with Kirk on the easiest touchdown pass of his career as the Bills sold out to stop the run and let the veteran run completely free in the end zone. He also executed a perfect two-minute drill at the end of the half, culminating with a touchdown connection to Higgins on a strong slant route by the rookie.

 

Running Back

 

Woody Marks:  16 Carries, 74 Yards | 1 Target, 1 Reception, -5 Yards 

Nick Chubb:  6 Carries, 16 Yards | 1 Target, 1 reception, -1 yards 

The rookie continues to set the tone in this backfield, out-touching the veteran 17-7 while holding a solid grip on the lead back duties. Marks ran strong early but suffered what appeared to be a minor injury in the second half and didn’t quite look the same after he returned from a brief absence. I don’t think it’s a concern, but it did seem to affect his performance slightly as the game wore on.

Chubb is a spell back, providing a snap or two for Marks to catch his breath, and that’s about it.

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Nico Collins:  3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 55 Yards 

Collins was out on the field for a high amount of snaps, but didn’t see the usual volume as the Bills seemed to focus their coverage his way. Although he caught every one of his targets, he saw his lowest amount of those since 2023, garnering just three. After back-to-back games of being Mills’ favorite target, Collins was due for some mild regression, but this seems like a floor game to me. He’ll bounce back next week.

 

Jayden Higgins:  9 Targets, 4 Receptions, 38 Yards, TD 

Higgins CONSISTENTLY beat his defender at the line of scrimmage to get open, but rarely connected with Mills as his quarterback just couldn’t figure out how to deliver the ball to the big perimeter target.

Higgins is firmly WR2 and was peppered with targets. There were three or four instances in the first quarter alone where Higgins should have converted a big play. He should have had a massive gain (and maybe a long touchdown) after he broke the ankles of his defender at the line of scrimmage, but was then missed entirely by Mills as he broke on the intended route instead of altering to a go route after his defender fell. It was clear that the Texans were looking to get the big-bodied receiver involved after so many red zone looks, and FINALLY connected with him for a touchdown just before the halftime break. I know this isn’t a waivers column, but Higgins is only 23% rostered in ESPN leagues and needs to be scooped in almost all of them for as long as he continues to get these kinds of looks.

 

Christian Kirk:  6 Targets, 5 Receptions, 54 Yards, TD 

Jaylin Noel:  2 Targets, 1 Reception, 4 Yards 

Kirk still seems to be out-snapping Noel in the slot and earned a red zone target this week, catching a two-yard touchdown on an out route that the Bills just outright forgot to cover in the end zone. He also broke open on a huge play that set up the Texans’ second touchdown drive. Kirk is just one of those old reliable veterans that has withstood the test of time and remains a fringe fantasy option out of the slot. Noel barely saw the field in the second half with the Texans leaning run-heavy, and still hasn’t passed Kirk from a usage standpoint.

 

Dalton Schultz:  4 Targets, 1 Reception, 8 Yards 

After seeing decent volume over the past few weeks, Schultz was hardly looked at this week. So it goes with streaming tight end options.

 

Cade Stover:  2 Targets

Stover was targeted twice and dropped both of them. You don’t get fantasy points for blocking.

 

Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X; @justinparadis.bsky.social on BlueSky