What We Learned from Sunday's Week 6 Games
Houston Texans 20, Buffalo Bills 13
1. Sunday was a battle of bad offensive lines. Deshaun Watson and Josh Allen were pressured relentlessly, and the results weren't pretty: Watson threw two interceptions and fumbled three times (losing one), and Josh Allen suffered an elbow injury that knocked him out for the rest of the game. On one possession that ended in Buffalo's first points of the afternoon (three, by way of kicker Stephen Hauschka), Allen had to scramble them into field goal range. None of the runs were designed. All of the shoddy protection led to an ugly day for offenses, save for the occasional Watson or Allen ad-lib that led to short completions. Oh, and that fantastic touchdown grab by DeAndre Hopkins.
There were a couple positive notes for the Bills, though: Zay Jones' touchdown catch was a nice example of a receiver winning a matchup with a well-run route. Allen continued on his slow climb toward looking more comfortable as a starting NFL quarterback (though emphasis should be placed on "slow"). The Bills defense was good, getting multiple key stops and holding Houston to a field goal when it had the ball at first-and-goal on the Buffalo 1. In the end, a familiar face did the Bills in, though.
2. For what I believe is the first time, television announcers openly questioned Nathan Peterman's future with the Bills after he threw a crushing, decisive pick-six with less than two minutes to play in a tight game. It fit right into the Peterman narrative of interceptions, but came at a horrible time in a game in which Peterman was finally showing (at least small glimpses) why Buffalo has maintained this odd infatuation with his potential.
After the game, Peterman went on about not finding his identity in football. Perhaps that's how this should go.
It doesn't help that things don't seem entirely right for Buffalo's offense. Kelvin Benjamin finished with two catches for 43 yards on six targets, hours after reportedly telling Allen in warmups he didn't want to work on routes with the rookie. That's not a good look for an offense that only had 83 total yards through 39 minutes of action (but finished with 229) Sunday.
3. Someone get a gold ribbon for Houston's special teams. The Texans took advantage of a punt muffed by rookie Ray-Ray McCloud, recovering it and setting the Texans up for their first touchdown of the day (the aforementioned strike to Hopkins). Far from finished, the punt return team managed to block a Corey Bojorquez punt, which deflected toward the sideline before it was recovered by Houston. That ended up producing a field goal and a 10-0 halftime lead. It was the first time in franchise history (dates back to 2002) that the Texans strung together those two accomplishments in a game. It also gave a cushion they needed once Buffalo's offense gained a heartbeat, and helped Houston to its third straight win after starting 0-3.
-- Nick Shook