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'Had a chance to win it there at the end' | Bills fall short to Texans Thursday night on the scoreboard and in personnel

Nov 21, 2025 at 02:01 AM

Sydney Ciano

Seasonal writing associate

On Thursday night, Buffalo lost on the road in Houston, 23-19.

"We still have opportunities to play; that door [isn't] shut," left tackle Dion Dawkins said. "… We have a chance next week to show our stuff."

Here's more reaction from the team:

Injuries strike hard on Thursday night

No one was safe at NRG Stadium, including the officials. As for the Bills, they sustained injuries on both sides of the ball.

Quarterback Josh Allen was not exempt from the long list of injuries, irritations and aggravations. After getting hit from behind in the first quarter, Allen said after the game that he landed awkwardly on his left shoulder. He shared postgame that it went numb for a moment, causing concern, but shook it off and felt fine after getting back to the sidelines.

Defensively, they lost linebacker Terrel Bernard and cornerback Maxwell Hairston. They did not return to the game due to an elbow injury and concussion, respectively. Head coach Sean McDermott said after the game that he has yet to hear from the trainer on Hairston's exact status, but is aware he was held out of the game after taking the hit on the field.

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Bernard and Hairston weren't the only ones to come off the field. Cornerback Christian Benford's shoulder was aggravated during the game and defensive end A.J. Epenesa briefly sat out due to a neck injury. Both defenders were cleared to return.

On offense, wide receiver Khalil Shakir was evaluated for a concussion and was cleared to return. Dawkins also passed concussion protocol. While Dawkins was off the field, offensive lineman Ryan Van Demark took his place.

Fellow offensive tackle Spencer Brown was also exhausted and beat up by the Houston defense, sustaining a shoulder injury he was evaluated and cleared to return for. Though he did not come out of the game, guard O'Cyrus Torrence looked like he pulled something in his leg. It was not enough to sideline him, especially with backups already lined up on the field in place of other linemen.

The Texans also sustained injuries throughout the game. However, with a Buffalo team already battling bruises and beatings, players dropping left and right puts the Bills in an uncertain position out of their comfort zone. Especially given the number of offensive linemen who required evaluation or were affected by some sort of physical aggravation, it was clear that the Houston defense put Buffalo through the ringer.

"We got to stay in this thing, man," McDermott said after the game. "We grind and we grind it out, that's what you do. You compete; you sign up. This is what you do. No matter [if] you have no injuries or [if] you have the injuries that we have … we fight. That's what we do. We fight, we battle and we push forward."

Missed extra point comes back to haunt the Bills

Allen, Shakir, and wide receiver Joshua Palmer sparked a lot of hope on the final Bills' drive of the game.

The offense stepped out onto the field with 2:48 left in regulation. It continuously found itself in third-down scenarios, including a third-and-20 due to a 10-yard-loss sack. Houston wasn't finished there. On the next play, defensive end Danielle Hunter got to the quarterback again and brought Allen down for a loss of seven.

"That's the formula – the unhealthy formula I'm talking about," McDermott said of third- or fourth-and-long situations.

However, Buffalo had no choice but to go for it on fourth-and-27. The 2024 MVP paired with a perfectly executed play call from offensive coordinator Joe Brady didn't let the scenario phase them.

Allen connected with Palmer 11 yards out, then tossed it up for Shakir to grab it almost immediately. Without a Texan in the way to interfere with either of those passes, Shakir didn't hesitate to keep the play running, pick up the first down and put the Bills at Houston's 26-yard-line for a total 33-yard gain.

From thereon out, though, it was one missed chance after another.

Allen fell back on his tried-and-true connection with wide receiver Gabe Davis. Making the catch just in front of the end zone, Davis came down with the ball, but slightly too far backwards. His second foot stepped out of bounds, ruling it an incomplete pass.

Finding running back Ty Johnson on the next play for nine yards, Buffalo called a timeout to stop the clock and prepare for third-and-one. Defensive end Will Anderson Jr. nearly intercepted Allen on the play right out of the timeout. He put both hands up as Allen targeted Shakir, but ended up batting the ball down.

Prepared for fourth-and-one after having success on the last down throughout the game, Dawkins anticipated the aggressive defense in front of him a second too early and drew a false start penalty. Instead of one yard, Buffalo was pushed back to fourth-and-six.

"I gotta do better," Dawkins said of his penalty.

Knowing there wasn't much time before Houston inevitably got to him, Allen took a shot to Palmer. The pass fell short, and safety Calen Bullock dove down to intercept it and end the game.

On top of these missed chances, there was pressure looming over to go for all or nothing since the Bills were down four points instead of three.

On their opening drive that ended in a rushing touchdown from running back James Cook III, place kicker Matt Prater missed the extra point. Flash forward to the very end of the game, that one mishap was the difference between a four-point deficit and three-point deficit. Buffalo was in field goal range to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. If the initial extra point went through, a possibility opens there for the Bills to have an opportunity to tie the game and leave their fate in the hands of overtime.

Those small bumps in the road, whether it was incompletions, untimely penalties, or the smallest margin of points were difference makers against the top defense in the country.

"Had a chance to win it there at the end, so that we did a good job of staying in it," Allen said. "… Driving the ball on that last, fast drive, and we got to find a way to get it – and we didn't."