Bills vs. Texans final score: J.J. Watt pick-6 the difference in 23-17 Houston win
By Phil Watson
J.J. Watt returned an interception 80 yards for a touchdown after the Houston Texans had turned the ball over on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, giving Houston a lead it wouldn’t surrender in a 23-17 win over the Buffalo Bills Sunday at NRG Stadium.
Ryan Fitzpatrick’s first pass of the second half was picked off by Buffalo’s Nigel Bradham and the Bills, leading 10-7 at the time, were in business at the Houston 19.
But on a third-and-3 from the Texans’ 12, Watt got his mitts on a pass intended for Fred Jackson and took off for the house.
Instead of Buffalo driving in to take a potential two-score lead, the Texans led 14-10 and never looked back. Randy Bullock kicked three second-half field goals to pass the lead and the Texans hung on for the win. Buffalo made it close in the fourth quarter when EJ Manuel connected with Mike Williams on this 80-yard scoring play.
That cut Houston’s lead to 20-17.
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Buffalo did get the ball back with 1:42 remaining and no timeouts, taking over at their own 29. The Bills got the ball across midfield, but Manuel’s last pass was picked off by Darryl Morris with 1:07 left.
Two kneeldowns later, the Texans were 3-1 and Buffalo had its second straight loss to fall to 2-2.
Houston won despite three turnovers and not having even a modicum of a running game. Fitzpatrick was the Texans’ leading rusher on the day with 14 yards on six carries. Rookie Alfred Blue had nine yards on nine attempts and Arian Foster was held to six yards on eight carries.
Fitzpatrick was 25-for-37 for 268 yards and a touchdown, but threw two interceptions and Andre Johnson lost his first fumble in 82 games.
But Manuel had accuracy problems all day, going just 21-for-44 for 225 yards and two scores. He also threw two picks.
C.J. Spiller ran for 60 yards on 15 carries for Buffalo.
Watt’s pick-six was just part of a big day, as he finished with five tackles and seven quarterback hits. Jared Crick had 1.5 sacks for the Texans.
Buffalo jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the second quarter on a 31-yard field goal by Dan Carpenter and a 5-yard touchdown pass from Manuel to first-round pick Sammy Watkins.
Houston’s first score came on a 35-yard pass from Fitzpatrick to DeAndre Hopkins.
Houston visits the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday, while Buffalo is at Detroit.
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