Texans vs. Bills score: Houston's defense batters Josh Allen, creeps back into playoff picture

Calen Bullock with his second interception of the game, and Houston holds on.

Oh my goodness! A Joshua Palmer catch plus a lateral to Khalil Shakir for 33 yards!

Mario Edwards joins the party, and Buffalo is now facing fourth-and-27.

This is pure dominance.

Josh Allen has taken a career high-tying seven sacks, this one an absolute killer: Danielle Hunter for a loss of 10 yards on second-and-10. Buffalo has its back against the wall.

The Bills are going with Ryan Van Demark at right tackle. Brown was really struggling and now has heavy padding/taping on his right upper arm/shoulder on the sideline

Allen has now been sacked six times, his most in a regular-season game since 2020. This pass rush is just relentless, especially against struggling right tackle Spencer Brown.

What a tremendous play from Khalil Shakir. With an overload blitz coming, Josh Allen got a quick swing pass out, and Shakir made not one but two Houston defenders miss for a big gain on third-and-12.

What a dominant effort from the Houston defensive line. On third-and-2, it stopped James Cook for a 1-yard gain. On fourth-and-1, Sheldon Rankins absolutely blew up another Cook run for a loss of 2.

Cook has 113 rushing yards, but he's been relatively quiet ever since his 45-yard touchdown run early.

The Texans' offense has twice taken over in plus territory after Bills turnovers. They have twice managed only field goals. The maligned Buffalo defense is hanging in there, but the offense has to get something going here as we head into the fourth quarter.

Josh Allen found Shakir for a big third-down conversion, but Calen Bullock ripped the ball loose, and Justin Reid picked up the loose ball.

A second big takeaway from Houston to set the offense up in scoring territory.

Everyone is getting beat up tonight. Hairston came in to make a tackle and got hit awkwardly up high. One play later, Marks went down and needed help. The officiating crew is now operating down an umpire as well.

"TNF" can be absolute carnage, and this is another example.

UPDATE: Marks is back in, but Hairston headed back to the locker room.

The Bills' standout linebacker is writhing in pain and grabbing at his arm/elbow after making a tackle for loss.

UPDATE: He is going back to the locker room.

Josh Allen's freelancing, free-wheeling style of play makes him special. But Anderson Jr. is up to the task again, this time for an 18-yard(!) loss.

What a player.

A shootout has broken out. Davis Mills is heating up after a cold start, and he found Jayden Higgins for an 8-yard touchdown with just five seconds on the clock.

Mills is now 11 for 21 for 122 yards and two touchdowns. The big play on that drive was a 33-yard catch and run from Christian Kirk.

Collins hung on after taking a big shot from Cole Bishop, but he received medical assistance on his way off the field.

Now it's Benford coming off the field with an apparent shoulder injury.

What a turn of events! Shortly after the Texans scored a touchdown, Josh Allen threw an interception and Houston added a field goal, Ray Davis goes 97 yards to the house. It's now 16-13 Buffalo. Huge play by Davis considering how good this Houston defense is.

This is what the Texans do: play aggressively and make things really tough on opposing quarterbacks. Azeez Al-Shaair got the tip, and Bullock brought it back. The return for a touchdown was wiped out due to a block in the back, but the Texans are in great position to add to their lead.

The Texans finish off a lengthy, impressive drive with a 2-yard toss from Mills to Kirk.

Mills is just 4 for 13 passing, but Houston has taken advantage of a leaky Buffalo run defense and taken its first lead of the night.

Will Anderson Jr. just notched his ninth sack of the season. This is also his sixth straight game with a sack, which is tied for the second-longest streak within a single season in Texans history. Mario Williams had a sack in six straight games in 2007.

Josh Allen has called Ty Johnson the best third-down back in the league, but this time he comes up big on fourth down with a 23-yard catch. Two catches for Johnson already, both for first downs.

The Bills have already dealt with injury scares to Josh Allen and Khalil Shakir, and now star left tackle Dion Dawkins is in the medical tent undergoing evaluation for a concussion.

Mills is just 1 for his first 8 passes, though his third-down incompletion wasn't really his fault; Jayden Higgins was unable to get both feet down inbounds.

Overall, though, it's been another rough start for Mills. Houston has gone three-and-out on two of its first three possessions.

Will Anderson Jr. crushed Allen from behind, and Allen was in immediate pain going down to the ground. After getting tended to by trainers, Allen was able to walk off under his own power, but that was a big hit.

After gashing the Bills' run defense all the way down the field, the Texans bogged down in the red zone.

That's been an issue all year: Houston is 31st in red zone touchdown percentage. Still, it was a productive drive for the hosts, who are already up to 50 yards on the ground.

Houston's offensive line is driving the interior of the Buffalo defensive line back effectively, and that's been the story all year for the Bills.

If Houston keeps that up, it'll open up play action for Davis Mills; he just hit Jayden Higgins for a first down on a play action.

That's a heck of a start for Buffalo. They convert a fourth-and-1 and a third-and-8 and finally, a third-and-inches with this James Cook burst.

Great patience and vision from Cook, two of the areas in which he has improved so much as a pro.

Facing fourth-and-1 inside their own 30, the Bills went for it, and Josh Allen soared over the top to convert.

Nice, aggressive decision from Buffalo early.

The Texans start with the ball.

After a slow start to his first start of the season -- Week 10 against the Jaguars -- Davis Mills caught fire and finished with 292 passing yards and three touchdowns accounted for in a wild comeback win.

But last week, he was far less effective in a narrow 16-13 win over the lowly Titans. Houston needs him closer to his Week 10 form in order to pick up a win tonight.