Texans shut out 40-0 by the Bills.
Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds had the first of Buffalo’s four interceptions,
and the Bills suffocated the offensively inept Houston Texans in a 40-0 win on Sunday.
Micah Hyde, Tyler Matakevich and Jaquan Johnson, in his first career start, each had interceptions,
while Cam Lewis forced a fumble as Buffalo overwhelmed rookie quarterback Davis Mills in his second career start.
The Bills limited Houston to 109 yards of offence — 8 in the first half — and six first downs to post their second shutout in three weeks. Buffalo, which blanked Miami 35-0 on Sept. 19,
has two shutouts in a season for the first time since 1990.
Josh Allen finished 20 of 29 for 248 yards with two touchdowns — a 25-yarder and a 1-yarder,
both to Dawson Knox — and an interception before giving way to backup Mitchell Trubisky with 8:03 remaining.
Tyler Bass hit all four field-goal attempts — three from inside 30 yards — in a steady rain. Buffalo led 19-0 through three quarters before Knox and Zack Moss, on a 2-yard run, blew the game open.
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Seahawks overcome incredibly slow start, topple 49ers in badly needed 28-21 road win
Trubisky closed the scoring with a 4-yard TD run as Buffalo scored 40 or more points in consecutive weeks for the second time in team history, and first since 1990.
The Bills (3-1), coming off a 43-21 win over Washington,
have won three straight since a season-opening loss to Pittsburgh, and are 3-1 or better through four games for the third consecutive season.
Houston (1-3) dropped its third straight, the skid coinciding with starter Tyrod Taylor being sidelined with a hamstring injury in a 31-21 loss at Cleveland in Week 2.
Mills, a third-round selection out of Stanford, was in over his head against a defence that improved to 10-0 in its last 10 meetings against quarterbacks with 16 or fewer stars.
He finished 11 of 21 for 87 yards and received little push from a Texans running attack that finished with 48 yards.
The Bills have limited their opponents to less than 300 yards of offence in each of their first four games.
Buffalo also became the first team in the NFL to have two shutout wins of 35 points or more in a season since the 2009 New York Jets.
After Allen sailed his first pass over the middle and was intercepted by Lonnie Johnson Jr., who returned it to Buffalo’s 13, the game turned.
With Houston going for it on fourth-and-3, Mills’ screen pass to David Johnson was tipped incomplete by Bills linebacker Jerry Hughes to end the Texans’ best scoring threat.
Houston crossed midfield just three more times on 12 drives.
With Houston facing third-and-10 at Buffalo’s 37, Edmunds intercepted Mills as he attempted to force a pass over the middle into double coverage.
The Texans’ defence held firm through three quarters despite missing leading tackler, linebacker Zach Cunningham,
and defensive tackle Ross Blacklock, who was placed on the COVID-19 list on Friday.
Each of Buffalo’s first four trips inside Houston’s 20 ended in field goals.
Mills had the ball slide out of his hands on the third play from scrimmage,
indicating that the weather was a role. He was able to recover it for a 9-yard loss.
Allen then had difficulty gripping the ball and was picked off by Johnson Jr.
MOVING ON UP
Allen’s second touchdown pass to Knox was his 103rd career touchdown pass (passing, rushing, receiving), moving him one ahead of Jack Kemp for third place among quarterbacks in franchise history.
INJURIES:
DL for the Texans After suffering a chest injury in the third quarter, Jonathan Greenard did not return.
DB After being declared out with an illness, Jimmy Moreland did not travel with the squad on Saturday.
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Seahawks overcome incredibly slow start, topple 49ers in badly needed 28-21 road win
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