By Clint Brooks / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Buffalo Bills, after grabbing a fourth quarter lead, were handed a soul-crushing loss to the Houston Texans, 20-13, in Week 6.
Quarterback Josh Allen left the game in the third quarter due to an elbow injury and did not return. Nathan Peterman took over the reigns and propelled the Bills to a 13-10 lead with only minutes remaining in the game. Houston drove down the field and tied the game up at 13 until Peterman sealed Buffalo’s fate with two costly interceptions in the final stages of the contest, dropping their record now to 2-4 through the first six weeks of the 2018 season.
With a disappointing finish now in the books, here are Buffalo’s studs and duds from their clash with the Texans:
Stud: Bills defense
It was another week, another game where the Bills’ defense stood on their heads and kept the team in a great position to steal a big win on the road.
First off, Buffalo’s front seven was on fire. Their pass rush racked up seven sacks against Deshaun Watson and harassed the second-year quarterback through the majority of the game. Defensive tackle Kyle Williams led the way with two sacks while Jerry Hughes and Lorenzo Alexander produced 1.5 sacks of their own. The defensive line actively created three forced fumbles, as Trent Murphy, Williams and Hughes all stripped the ball from Watson’s hands. The defensive front also proved to be stout against the run, allowing only 74 yards on 24 carries for an average of 3.1 yards-per-carry.
The Bills’ secondary was equally impressive. They held Watson to a mediocre stat line as he completed 15-of-25 passes for one touchdown and two interceptions for 177 passing yards. Safety Jordan Poyer intercepted an errant throw by Watson in the end zone while Alexander picked off his own tipped pass which turned the momentum of the game in Buffalo’s favor.
Overall, the Bills’ defense limited Houston’s high-flying offense to only 216 total yards. Their brilliant performance on defense, unfortunately, was not enough to secure the win.
Stud: LeSean McCoy
Buffalo hit the century mark rushing in back-to-back weeks for the first time this season. To no surprise, running back LeSean McCoy led the way and was the lone bright spot on offense, rushing for 73 yards on 16 carries (4.6 yards-per-carry). He also chipped in with three catches for 21 yards in the passing game as well.
Dud: Nathan Peterman
Allen left the game in the later stages of the third quarter with an elbow injury which paved the way for Peterman to prove, once again, that he can be a starting quarterback in the NFL.
Things were looking up for Peterman when he tossed a perfect, 16-yard pass to the corner of the end zone to wide receiver Zay Jones, catapulting the Bills to a 13-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
It wasn’t until after Houston drove down the field and tied the game at 13 where the Peterman of old reared its ugly head. With a potential game-winning drive on the line, Peterman tossed a devastating pick-six to cornerback Johnathan Joseph that vaulted the Texans to a 20-13 lead. Peterman was given another crack at tying the game with only a minute remaining, but cornerback Kareem Jackson intercepted Peterman again to seal Buffalo’s fourth loss on the season. Peterman finished the game completing 6-of-12 passes for 61 yards to go along with one touchdown and two interceptions.
The opportunity was there for Peterman to redeem himself and convince the staff that he’d be good enough to stay on the roster for both the short and long-term. When considering this past week’s addition of quarterback Derek Anderson together with the coaching staff’s commitment to Allen for the foreseeable future, Peterman’s roster status is now in serious jeopardy.
Dud: Special Teams
For the second straight week, the Bills’ special teams proved to be costly and degraded the team’s chance of netting their third win of the season.
Specifically, in the return game, wide receiver and return specialist Ray-Ray McCloud fumbled the ball on two separate occasions. One of his fumbles was lost as the Texans took advantage and converted their takeaway into a touchdown, which put Buffalo in an early 10-0 deficit. Buffalo had a punt blocked, too.
Daniel Crossman’s special teams unit has been inconsistent all season. The team needs to clean up their deficiencies on offense and special teams and improve in those facets of the game to compliment their stellar defense.