Latest / NFL Podcast Network Selects / NFL Week 12 Thursday Night Football Recap | Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans

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NFL Week 12 Thursday Night Football Recap | Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans · NFL Podcast Network Selects

0:00
Speaker 1: Warbit Mos, Shakir Alan back to throw Allan airing it
0:04
Speaker 1: out Alan pep up by pull up. It's over the Texans.
0:08
Speaker 2: They're gonna do it.
0:11
Speaker 1: There's a flagged out of the secondary.
0:14
Speaker 3: What is this?
0:15
Speaker 4: It's a gutst the pills.
0:17
Speaker 1: The Texans pull it off. They're gonna knock off Buffalo time.
0:22
Speaker 2: Oh.
0:22
Speaker 3: For those who are fans of a pass happy NFL
0:26
Speaker 3: who like points on the scoreboard, the Houston Texans have
0:30
Speaker 3: a message for you, and that message is defense can
0:33
Speaker 3: be fun too. The Texans take down the Buffalo Bills
0:38
Speaker 3: on Thursday Night Football twenty three to nineteen in a
0:42
Speaker 3: thrilling contest. I'm Nick Schuck sitting in for Greg Rosenthal
0:46
Speaker 3: and joined by my favorite, the superstar herself, Jordan Rodrig Jordan,
0:51
Speaker 3: what a game.
0:53
Speaker 5: We got a Monsters Inc. Twenty three nineteen, twenty three nineteen.
0:57
Speaker 5: I'm so excited.
0:58
Speaker 2: I was telling Patrick and Greg that this was gonna
1:01
Speaker 2: happen all season. We were going to get a score.
1:03
Speaker 2: Greg Rosenthal has never seen Monsters Inc. I feel the
1:06
Speaker 2: fans need to pressure him, the listeners need to pressure him.
1:09
Speaker 5: He must now watch it as.
1:11
Speaker 2: Penance for not believing in the Houston Texans. Like we
1:14
Speaker 2: were talking about Nick all week with this defense. This
1:18
Speaker 2: game was so so fun. If you love defense, if
1:21
Speaker 2: you love weirdness, if you love games that get really
1:24
Speaker 2: really crazy with slow periods in between and flurries of competence.
1:28
Speaker 5: It was so much fun all around. This was amazing.
1:31
Speaker 3: Oh flurries of confidence. What a way to describe the
1:34
Speaker 3: Houston Texans offense tonight. I mean it didn't start with
1:36
Speaker 3: competence necessarily, because they ended up in a goal to
1:39
Speaker 3: go situation and settled for three. But they did find
1:42
Speaker 3: some openings and they capitalized late in this game. And
1:45
Speaker 3: I think that's probably where we should start. Because earlier
1:47
Speaker 3: in this game, the Bills put together your typical touchdown drive.
1:50
Speaker 4: It ends up in a long James Cook touchdown run,
1:53
Speaker 4: pretty status quo.
1:55
Speaker 3: But the Texans claw their way back into this game,
1:57
Speaker 3: and really where things turned is just before or halftime
2:01
Speaker 3: when they force a turnover and they cover seventy five
2:03
Speaker 3: yards and they finish it.
2:05
Speaker 4: And this is a six play drive, mind you, This is.
2:08
Speaker 3: A two minute drill executed to perfection by none other
2:11
Speaker 3: than the man himself, Davis Mills. And when it looks
2:14
Speaker 3: like they're gonna come up short again on the goal line. Instead,
2:17
Speaker 3: Mills finds Jayden and Higgins for a touchdown, and suddenly
2:21
Speaker 3: the Texans have a twenty to sixteen lead going into halftime,
2:24
Speaker 3: and if you listen to the final score, it's twenty
2:26
Speaker 3: three to nineteen, which tells the rest of the story
2:28
Speaker 3: because there weren't that many points in the second half
2:30
Speaker 3: thanks to this fantastic Houston Texans defense. Jordan, I know
2:34
Speaker 3: that you love watching great defenses play, and we got
2:38
Speaker 3: one tonight.
2:39
Speaker 5: Yeah, this was so much fun, you know.
2:41
Speaker 2: To that point when the Texans started putting together actual
2:45
Speaker 2: drives on offense, Davis Mills had only completed his second
2:49
Speaker 2: pass of the game with like nine and a half
2:51
Speaker 2: minutes left in the second half, which tells you we
2:54
Speaker 2: say flurries of competence, we mean flurries of competence, because
2:59
Speaker 2: in the last three minutes ish of the second quarter,
3:02
Speaker 2: the Texans scored seventeen points and took a twenty to
3:05
Speaker 2: sixteen lead, and from their their defense went to work. Nick.
3:10
Speaker 2: The Texans defensive line sacked Josh Allen eight times tonight.
3:15
Speaker 2: That is I believe a career high for Josh Allen.
3:19
Speaker 2: Kaylin Bullock, who iced the game. That was his second interception,
3:22
Speaker 2: and he also forced to fumble. I mean, this pressure
3:26
Speaker 2: that the Texans defense got didn't just alter the game.
3:31
Speaker 2: And obviously the Russian coverage was so complimentary because Josh
3:33
Speaker 2: Allen turned the ball over pretty uncharacteristically. In fact, that
3:37
Speaker 2: he was being pressured so voraciously from play to play,
3:42
Speaker 2: the pressure was coming from the outside, it was coming
3:45
Speaker 2: from the inside. It was such a smart sequencing of
3:50
Speaker 2: design and tenacity. And these defensive linemen they also they
3:54
Speaker 2: were getting their arms free of the offensive linemen. They
3:57
Speaker 2: were batting Josh Allen's arm all the time to force
4:00
Speaker 2: him to tuck and pull the ball so he didn't
4:02
Speaker 2: want to make the throws. And the secondary and the
4:04
Speaker 2: linebackers were swarming behind it. It was artful, artful defense.
4:09
Speaker 2: And I have to say it's this defense is magnificent.
4:13
Speaker 2: So often during this game, nick, I found myself thinking,
4:18
Speaker 2: this Texans defense is truly beautiful to watch. It is magnificent.
4:23
Speaker 2: If only they had an offense. And over and over again,
4:27
Speaker 2: you just kept thinking this because they kept giving the
4:29
Speaker 2: Bills chances to come back into this. But this defense
4:33
Speaker 2: they have Josh Allen's number. He plays his worst football
4:36
Speaker 2: against the Houston Texans defense.
4:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, although I do think back to that one
4:40
Speaker 3: time when he took off for a run early in
4:41
Speaker 3: his career and blooded up his arm. That was also
4:43
Speaker 3: in Houston, but that was years ago. That was a
4:45
Speaker 3: different Josh Allen. There's so many topics that you could
4:47
Speaker 3: drill down on it within this defensive performance, Like you
4:51
Speaker 3: could talk about the fact that that Josh consistently had
4:54
Speaker 3: nowhere to go, and the reason that he had nowhere
4:56
Speaker 3: to go wasn't just the pressure, it was also the
4:58
Speaker 3: way that Houston played coverage. Now next Gen Stats has
5:02
Speaker 3: it pretty even there's actually more zone than man. But
5:04
Speaker 3: in the second half, especially, all I saw was one
5:08
Speaker 3: safety of high man coverage across the board and the
5:11
Speaker 3: Bills are trying to run crossers and everything else. They
5:13
Speaker 3: ran mesh a couple of times, and the Texans properly
5:15
Speaker 3: picked it up, even though usually their cause is traffic
5:17
Speaker 3: that loses a defender no problem for the Texans, and
5:20
Speaker 3: the easy layups that Alan is so used to getting
5:23
Speaker 3: were not there.
5:24
Speaker 4: So that was the first part.
5:25
Speaker 3: He had no quick decisions until that final drive when
5:27
Speaker 3: the Texans were playing a little softer. The other part
5:30
Speaker 3: of it was it's not just the usual suspects in
5:32
Speaker 3: pass rushing. And yes, of course Will Anderson and Daniel Hunter,
5:36
Speaker 3: they definitely did their part. Will Anderson with two and
5:38
Speaker 3: a half sacks, Daniel Hunter with two, But there were
5:40
Speaker 3: other players that came up in key spots throughout this
5:43
Speaker 3: game where Alan might escape the pocket to the right
5:46
Speaker 3: and there's Henry Toto to meet him behind the line
5:48
Speaker 3: of scrimmage.
5:49
Speaker 4: For a sack. He wasn't the only one.
5:50
Speaker 3: There was a number of other guys, Tim Settle getting
5:52
Speaker 3: a sack up the middle. What it was was Alan
5:55
Speaker 3: trying to navigate the pocket looking for exit routes, and
5:58
Speaker 3: every time he thought he found one, there was a
6:00
Speaker 3: Texans defender. It was an incredible display of discipline, both
6:03
Speaker 3: on the back end and in the pass rush, and
6:06
Speaker 3: it neutralized the Bill's offense that folks probably thought were
6:08
Speaker 3: going to put up a lot of points. They put
6:10
Speaker 3: up with forty two, forty four last week. Nope, nineteen today.
6:13
Speaker 3: Because when you run into a defense that has talent
6:16
Speaker 3: at all three levels, and especially a safety in Kaln Bullock,
6:20
Speaker 3: who had a hell of a night, and you have
6:21
Speaker 3: a defense that plays disciplined football as well coached, then
6:24
Speaker 3: it's going to make everything real difficult for you. And
6:26
Speaker 3: like you said, if the Texans had an offense, this
6:28
Speaker 3: would be a legit Super Bowl contender, because this defense
6:30
Speaker 3: is elite, it's special. It's one that we're going to
6:32
Speaker 3: remember for a while.
6:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm curious if you saw the same thing as
6:36
Speaker 2: me too, Nick, because it was like when this group
6:40
Speaker 2: was pass rushing. And when I say that, it's not
6:42
Speaker 2: just their front that does it. I know that sometimes
6:45
Speaker 2: the broadcast in the pregame, like had some fun with
6:48
Speaker 2: Debiko Ryans and his swarm catchphrase and what does it mean?
6:51
Speaker 2: And I'm like, watch the game, that's what That's what
6:53
Speaker 2: it means, Sue, Because it was because what they were
6:56
Speaker 2: doing as a collective, This wasn't just the front interier
7:00
Speaker 2: next tierer, which was amazing, but also every single layer
7:04
Speaker 2: they were almost reading the inverse of Josh Allen's own
7:07
Speaker 2: reads when they were looking When Josh Allen was looking
7:10
Speaker 2: for places to go, it's like they were also looking
7:14
Speaker 2: for the same lanes to either run or to throw
7:18
Speaker 2: that Josh Allen himself was looking at. That is incredible
7:22
Speaker 2: film study. That is instinctive football. That is smart scheme
7:26
Speaker 2: that from Matt Burke, the defensive coordinator. That is also
7:29
Speaker 2: just a tenacious, exquisitely talented group of players that even
7:34
Speaker 2: when things got so crazy at the end, Nick so
7:38
Speaker 2: crazy at the end again in one of these Texans games,
7:42
Speaker 2: and you just had confidence that they were going to
7:45
Speaker 2: make a goal line stand, even when we saw one
7:48
Speaker 2: of the most unbelievable plays I think we've seen in.
7:50
Speaker 5: A game all season.
7:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, when Houston was kind of I wouldn't
7:54
Speaker 3: say playing with their food, but allowing the Bills to
7:56
Speaker 3: stay in the game in the fourth quarter, I thought,
7:58
Speaker 3: oh no, this is going to be our heartbreak happens,
8:00
Speaker 3: And when they cut it to a four point lead,
8:01
Speaker 3: I thought, oh no, here comes the heartbreak. But that
8:04
Speaker 3: defense gives you the confidence as a viewer, and if
8:06
Speaker 3: you're a Texans fan that if they're gonna lose, they're
8:09
Speaker 3: going to make it really difficult for the other team
8:11
Speaker 3: to break their hearts, Like you're not just going to
8:13
Speaker 3: get a free shot at them. You're gonna have to
8:14
Speaker 3: really work for it. And the Bills were working for it,
8:17
Speaker 3: and their only lifeline in the passing game, especially in
8:19
Speaker 3: the fourth quarter was finding Khalil Shakir. You know you
8:22
Speaker 3: had no Dalton Kin Kate out there. Keon Coleman inactive
8:25
Speaker 3: for a second straight week, so his options, Josh Allen's
8:27
Speaker 3: options are limited, and it ended up being thrown to
8:30
Speaker 3: Shakir in the flat in a little bit of open
8:31
Speaker 3: space and make guys miss. And he did a lot
8:33
Speaker 3: down the right sideline in that fourth quarter, which is
8:35
Speaker 3: really what put them in a position to potentially win
8:37
Speaker 3: this game. But ultimately it was the same things that
8:40
Speaker 3: we just talked about, Alan being under duress often really
8:43
Speaker 3: just never feeling comfortable in the pocket, and a player
8:46
Speaker 3: like Kayln Bullock stepping in to make the game ceiling
8:49
Speaker 3: interception that we listen to. Just a phenomenal play, but
8:54
Speaker 3: not the only play and not the only contribution from
8:56
Speaker 3: a defender on the Texans defense. We think about Aziz
8:59
Speaker 3: Als like this guy has a bit of a reputation
9:02
Speaker 3: after what he did to Trevor Lawrence last year. Right,
9:04
Speaker 3: he plays hard, He plays a million miles an hour,
9:06
Speaker 3: He hits players hard, and he brought that to the
9:08
Speaker 3: field tonight to the point where I think there was
9:11
Speaker 3: a fumble at one point and an offensive Lineman picked
9:13
Speaker 3: it up. It may I think it was one of
9:15
Speaker 3: the tackles, and he went to tackle him just to
9:17
Speaker 3: make sure that he was down, and you see him
9:18
Speaker 3: stand up in like Patti's helmet, like, hey man, I
9:20
Speaker 3: just had to make sure you were tackled. Well, that
9:22
Speaker 3: was him being peaceful, being, you know, extending an olive branch.
9:25
Speaker 3: He was not peaceful for most of this game. He
9:26
Speaker 3: tips a pass early in this game that ends up
9:29
Speaker 3: in the arms of Kaylan Bullock for the first interception
9:32
Speaker 3: that really started to swing the game in their favor.
9:34
Speaker 3: It was another example of how they're not just their stars.
9:37
Speaker 3: They're not just Derek Stingley. They are a full unit
9:40
Speaker 3: that comes through in the biggest spots. But you're right,
9:42
Speaker 3: one of the craziest plays we've seen all season on
9:44
Speaker 3: that final drive. It's fourth and twenty seven. I know
9:48
Speaker 3: there's an old play and Eagles lore that Donovan McNabb converted,
9:51
Speaker 3: but this one stands right up there, even though it's
9:53
Speaker 3: not in the playoffs. It's a hook and ladder, all
9:54
Speaker 3: hook and ladder, depending on what your terminology is. It
9:57
Speaker 3: worked regardless. It caught the Texans where playing a bit
10:00
Speaker 3: of a prevent look playing very soft back toward the
10:03
Speaker 3: line to gain gave them space underneath to make the play,
10:06
Speaker 3: and of course Joe Brady digs into the bag of
10:08
Speaker 3: tricks and calls it the perfect time and it catches
10:10
Speaker 3: the outside corner on the right side off guard, opens
10:13
Speaker 3: up another lane for Shakir to make a big game
10:15
Speaker 3: down the sideline, which it felt like he was doing
10:16
Speaker 3: the entire fourth quarter, and that's really what put us
10:19
Speaker 3: in this position for this game to come down to
10:20
Speaker 3: a final defensive stand, a thrilling play. I have to
10:24
Speaker 3: ask you, Jordan, before we move forward, which term do
10:26
Speaker 3: you use to describe this, because I've always been confused
10:29
Speaker 3: or at least conflicted on which one I want to use.
10:31
Speaker 2: I just say, Chris Peterson, you know, jas state by state,
10:34
Speaker 2: That's what I say. Yeah, And I posted this too
10:38
Speaker 2: as like Chris Peterson online one, because that is one
10:40
Speaker 2: of those plays I think. I'm I'm pretty sure that
10:43
Speaker 2: you and I are the same age as Joe Brady Nick.
10:46
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yeah, which is wild to think about.
10:49
Speaker 2: It's a lot of responsibility, but also but it's like
10:53
Speaker 2: we grew up with that lore, right, Like we grew
10:55
Speaker 2: up knowing you know about the Boise State upset and
10:58
Speaker 2: the Fiesta Bowl and the hook and Ladder, and I
11:00
Speaker 2: call it the hooking ladder, And I know it's a
11:02
Speaker 2: you know, you can go either way, but like it
11:05
Speaker 2: was one of those plays that you run. You really
11:07
Speaker 2: don't want to show that at any other point other
11:10
Speaker 2: than a moment of pure and absolute desperately.
11:12
Speaker 4: Unless unless you're Ben Johnson with the Lions last year.
11:14
Speaker 5: But please do it whenever you want.
11:17
Speaker 2: I thought that it was special for Khalil Shakir that
11:20
Speaker 2: he had an opportunity to possibly win the game just
11:24
Speaker 2: days after he and his wife had a baby girl.
11:27
Speaker 2: And so there was all this poetry setting up for
11:30
Speaker 2: this Josh Allen, you know, multiple turnovers and getting hit
11:34
Speaker 2: so much and shaking his hand out because he kept
11:36
Speaker 2: landing on his hand because he's trying to protect the
11:38
Speaker 2: football underneath his body every time he would get hit.
11:41
Speaker 2: And there was just this feeling that you're like, Okay,
11:44
Speaker 2: if Josh Allen is going to go into the same
11:47
Speaker 2: kind of god mode we saw last week, then this would.
11:51
Speaker 5: Be the moment that he does it.
11:53
Speaker 2: But it's it's a an unstoppable force meeting and a
11:56
Speaker 2: movable object and the immovable object wins in this case,
12:00
Speaker 2: the Texans defense. I can't speak highly enough for you
12:04
Speaker 2: mentioned some of the little details you saw about just
12:06
Speaker 2: how technically sound they are in some of the little moments,
12:09
Speaker 2: like Daniel Hunter at one point on a sack unclenched
12:15
Speaker 2: his arms from around Josh Allen's legs because his body
12:18
Speaker 2: was getting turned by alignman who was rolling backwards. And
12:21
Speaker 2: if Daniel Hunter would have still stayed holding on to
12:24
Speaker 2: Josh Allen's legs, he probably would have gotten flagged for
12:26
Speaker 2: a hip drop. And instead he unclapses his arms and
12:31
Speaker 2: the second that Josh Allen's feet are clear of the role,
12:34
Speaker 2: he claps back on. So it's like those little things
12:37
Speaker 2: that this is like the smartest freaking defense.
12:39
Speaker 5: It's why I picked them.
12:40
Speaker 2: I know it's embarrassing, but because of this offense. But
12:42
Speaker 2: I picked them to be Super Bowl contenders at the
12:45
Speaker 2: beginning of the season because this defense has just this
12:48
Speaker 2: elite professionalism and this athleticism. For Will Anderson Junior to
12:54
Speaker 2: miss the sack on Josh Allen diving and stretching out
12:57
Speaker 2: the first time run fifty one point seven yards according
13:01
Speaker 2: to NextGen Stats, to then get to Josh Allen and
13:04
Speaker 2: take him to the turf. That is some Aaron donald
13:08
Speaker 2: S man, and I wrote it out in my notes.
13:10
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna make Chris Babona edit it tonight, but
13:13
Speaker 2: that is some crazy, crazy stuff, and that is what
13:17
Speaker 2: this defense can be. I'm glad they got to show
13:19
Speaker 2: it on primetime. Sure, I wish they had an offense,
13:22
Speaker 2: but you know, it's fits and starts.
13:25
Speaker 5: You know, we take a week and.
13:26
Speaker 3: Get yeah, and the Texans will take what they can
13:28
Speaker 3: get for sure, because they're in this bit of they're
13:30
Speaker 3: in a process right now where they're trying to climb
13:32
Speaker 3: out of the deficit in the hole that they dug
13:33
Speaker 3: themselves early in this season. And as we got to
13:36
Speaker 3: the fourth quarter of this game tonight and I contemplated
13:38
Speaker 3: the idea of the Bills coming back and winning, I thought,
13:41
Speaker 3: if the Bills are going to win, it's going to
13:43
Speaker 3: be a culture win, and it's going to be just
13:45
Speaker 3: a red mark on the Texans resume as a team
13:48
Speaker 3: that has.
13:48
Speaker 4: A good defense but isn't good enough to beat teams
13:50
Speaker 4: like this.
13:51
Speaker 3: But now that it's that we watched it conclude in
13:53
Speaker 3: the fashion that it did, I'm almost tempted to say
13:56
Speaker 3: that it's a culture creating or a establishing win for
14:01
Speaker 3: these Texans, because if we back up a little bit,
14:04
Speaker 3: before Houston takes a twenty to sixteen lead into halftime,
14:08
Speaker 3: they had just put up a ten points in a
14:11
Speaker 3: matter of minutes.
14:12
Speaker 4: Right it's thirteen to nine.
14:14
Speaker 3: They had to settle for three after the turnover on
14:16
Speaker 3: the goal line, can't convert all the time. Buffalo gets
14:20
Speaker 3: it right back with a fantastic kick return touchdown.
14:24
Speaker 4: By Ray Davis. And one that I want to take
14:26
Speaker 4: a listen to.
14:27
Speaker 3: Here it one.
14:28
Speaker 4: Fifty six left in the hand.
14:32
Speaker 1: Kick is going to go to Davis, who fields it
14:33
Speaker 1: at the two, out to the ten. Fifteen coming off
14:36
Speaker 1: the middle, twenty five, bounces off a tackle, spins head,
14:38
Speaker 1: he's out to the forty, cuts it back fifty He's
14:41
Speaker 1: gonna go the distance. Happy birthday, Ray Davis all the
14:46
Speaker 1: way for a flip into the end zone.
14:49
Speaker 3: For a touchdown. Now that is a massive play that
14:53
Speaker 3: could take the soul from a team that had just
14:55
Speaker 3: clawed its way into the lead. You know, you think,
14:58
Speaker 3: all right, we're playing great defense, got something out of
15:00
Speaker 3: our offense for once. All the momentums in our favor boom,
15:03
Speaker 3: punched to the gut. Just like that, you're trailing again.
15:07
Speaker 3: And I think at that point I was settled in
15:10
Speaker 3: for a title contender type of fight, a heavyweight bout
15:13
Speaker 3: for twelve rounds, four quarters. Here we go back and forth.
15:17
Speaker 3: Some weird stuff's happening. Ray Davis runs into his own
15:19
Speaker 3: blocker and that's what frees him up to take it
15:22
Speaker 3: ninety seven yards for a touchdown kick return. And yet
15:27
Speaker 3: the Texans weren't really bothered by that. They responded, and
15:30
Speaker 3: that's why I think that, yes, their defense defines their team,
15:32
Speaker 3: but it's the ability to fight back. Yes, you have
15:35
Speaker 3: full home field advantage, you're wearing your fancy sparkly when
15:39
Speaker 3: it comes to the helmet, all red jerseys. You're on Primetime,
15:41
Speaker 3: it's a special night. But this is like where this
15:44
Speaker 3: team is why I'm starting to believe in them. And
15:47
Speaker 3: shout out to Davis Mills for doing a good enough
15:49
Speaker 3: job to move the football with this team. He's come
15:51
Speaker 3: through in the clutch a couple of times. Now, that win,
15:52
Speaker 3: that comeback went over Jacksonville, that two minute drive tonight
15:55
Speaker 3: to put points on the board before halftime. I'm kind
15:57
Speaker 3: of a believer that I like the trajectory of this
15:59
Speaker 3: text because of how they performed in a game like that.
16:07
Speaker 5: It's super interesting to me.
16:08
Speaker 2: I argue with Greg about this constantly, and we did
16:11
Speaker 2: so even over text tonight because he before he went
16:14
Speaker 2: into the family event that he was going to tonight, Nick,
16:20
Speaker 2: he was texting me about Davis Mills, who he just
16:23
Speaker 2: can't quit. He can't quit Davis Mills. He loves him.
16:27
Speaker 2: And when Davis Mills makes a throw to get the
16:30
Speaker 2: Texans in scoring position again right before halftime, He's like,
16:34
Speaker 2: we are so back, and then it goes dark because
16:36
Speaker 2: he goes into this event right, and I'm like, Greg's
16:40
Speaker 2: it's spurts right. It's like he does things in highly
16:45
Speaker 2: productive flashes. He's like the calmest guy ever, and yet
16:50
Speaker 2: his play is like high functioning anxiety personified, because it's
16:54
Speaker 2: like you're just still for most of it, and then
16:58
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, you produce, like frantically right, and
17:01
Speaker 2: then you're good. And I think it's a testament though,
17:04
Speaker 2: because even when he's not producing, and again they're in
17:07
Speaker 2: the second half, they're just giving the bills. Their possessing
17:10
Speaker 2: possessions are so short they're just giving the Bills bite
17:13
Speaker 2: after bite after bite after bite at the Apple. Davis
17:17
Speaker 2: Mills was calm, He was not rattled his offensive line.
17:21
Speaker 2: Once again, I think this was their seventh different line
17:23
Speaker 2: offensive line combination that they entered the game with the Texans,
17:26
Speaker 2: and their offense has not looked good with CJ.
17:29
Speaker 5: Strouder without c J. Stroud.
17:31
Speaker 2: And you know, like I mentioned at the top of
17:32
Speaker 2: the show, he didn't complete his second pass until deep
17:35
Speaker 2: into the second quarter. But he stays calm, and I
17:40
Speaker 2: think as sometimes maybe too calm. Al on the broadcast
17:44
Speaker 2: pointed this out when he was like, man, we haven't
17:47
Speaker 2: seen him like frown or show any emotion at all,
17:53
Speaker 2: good or bad on his face at any point. And
17:55
Speaker 2: I think that's really what you need for these Texans
17:58
Speaker 2: to climb out of the hole that they had dug themselves.
18:00
Speaker 2: Is this calmness. Now you hope CJ. Stroud gets back.
18:04
Speaker 2: It sounds like he's close to making his return to
18:07
Speaker 2: the field. But to have sort of this steadiness in
18:11
Speaker 2: the meantime when you are trying to figure out ways
18:14
Speaker 2: to win games and this defense is really carrying you
18:17
Speaker 2: through that like a Demico Ryan's team will I do
18:21
Speaker 2: think that it was important for Davis Mills to be
18:23
Speaker 2: this backup quarterback for this team right now.
18:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, And you know, I think when you have a
18:27
Speaker 3: defense as good as Houston's, it takes a little bit
18:29
Speaker 3: of the pressure off just naturally because you think, all right, well,
18:32
Speaker 3: the game's out entirely on my shoulders. If I don't
18:35
Speaker 3: convert this third down, the defense is still going to
18:37
Speaker 3: give us a chance, which is the first feather in
18:39
Speaker 3: his cap that he can kind of.
18:40
Speaker 4: Lean on in this situation. But it's also I mean,
18:42
Speaker 4: you think back to when he was drafted.
18:44
Speaker 3: He came out of Stanford with very limited college experience,
18:46
Speaker 3: and that was the big knock on him. And then
18:47
Speaker 3: they throw him into the fire and he gets two
18:49
Speaker 3: seasons worth of starting experience with a bad team and
18:51
Speaker 3: doesn't do well, and then they pull the plug and
18:53
Speaker 3: go to CJ. Stroud and we know what happened from there.
18:55
Speaker 3: But it's a testament to how you can develop and
18:58
Speaker 3: grow even if you're not quite on the feel. Over
19:00
Speaker 3: the course of an NFL career, he spent the last
19:03
Speaker 3: couple of years behind CJ. Stroud, two and a half
19:05
Speaker 3: seasons on the bench in anonymity to the point where
19:08
Speaker 3: when he came in for Stroud a couple of weeks ago,
19:10
Speaker 3: folks probably forgot that he was still on the roster.
19:13
Speaker 3: But they know he is now because of the comeback
19:15
Speaker 3: that he led over Jacksonville, because of the way that
19:17
Speaker 3: he's kept this offense competitive, and how he was able
19:20
Speaker 3: to do his job in some of the biggest spots night,
19:23
Speaker 3: like on his touchdown past the Christian Kirk where they
19:25
Speaker 3: go up tempo, they hand the ball off and it
19:27
Speaker 3: looks like they're just going to hand it off again
19:29
Speaker 3: right on the goal line. No little play action defender bites.
19:32
Speaker 3: He finds Kirk wide open in the corner of the
19:33
Speaker 3: end zone. That was a play that lesser quarterbacks who
19:37
Speaker 3: are not as calm as him simply don't make. They
19:39
Speaker 3: don't handle that situation properly. They don't handle some of
19:42
Speaker 3: the other situations, like the two minute drill just before halftime, properly.
19:46
Speaker 3: And that is part of why the Texans have been
19:48
Speaker 3: able to continue to build even without their quarterback, is
19:51
Speaker 3: that they have exactly what you want in a backup quarterback,
19:54
Speaker 3: somebody who can keep you afloat and guide you forward.
19:57
Speaker 3: He doesn't have to be a superstar. He doesn't have
19:59
Speaker 3: to be the one on the oars paddle in for you.
20:02
Speaker 3: He's just got to direct you in the right way.
20:04
Speaker 3: And that's exactly what I think he's done so far.
20:07
Speaker 3: And again it encourages me about the outlook for this
20:10
Speaker 3: team right now.
20:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do like that you brought up that tempo play,
20:13
Speaker 2: by the way, because I want to shout out Nick
20:14
Speaker 2: Kayley for something like that. Because this very embattled offensive
20:18
Speaker 2: coordinator for the Houston Texans, he's also had to have
20:22
Speaker 2: his learning moments and his learning curves, and they haven't
20:25
Speaker 2: been able to run the ball very well. And even
20:28
Speaker 2: after games where they look like Woody Marx is about
20:30
Speaker 2: to break out and really become like this dominant back,
20:33
Speaker 2: they're having to spell him out a lot too.
20:36
Speaker 5: With Nick Chubb.
20:37
Speaker 2: And in that case, I thought that it was a
20:40
Speaker 2: really smart play by a play call by the offensive
20:44
Speaker 2: coordinator to show the same almost the same exact look
20:47
Speaker 2: as the carry by Nick Chubb, but then move to
20:50
Speaker 2: the ball very very quickly to freeze the defense. Run
20:53
Speaker 2: a tempo play and then it's actually a pass play.
20:56
Speaker 2: I think what's also good about this sort of adversity
20:59
Speaker 2: that this team is facing on offense with a steadiness
21:03
Speaker 2: in a capable backup and like a really really really
21:08
Speaker 2: really floor lifting defense, is that it does force the
21:11
Speaker 2: offensive coordinator to think about his own process differently and
21:15
Speaker 2: think about how he's setting up and sequencing plays. Specifically
21:19
Speaker 2: a lot of the guys that come out of the
21:21
Speaker 2: McVay Shanahan tree, that's one of the things that you
21:24
Speaker 2: really learn is how to sequence plays, how to put
21:26
Speaker 2: together play calls one and two to set up parts
21:29
Speaker 2: to a whole. Well, Nick Kaylee wasn't really calling plays
21:33
Speaker 2: ever other than the preseason with McVeigh, and the bulk
21:36
Speaker 2: of his experience comes from when he was in New England,
21:39
Speaker 2: and so you have to still learn those things as
21:42
Speaker 2: a play caller. You're not just going to be like
21:45
Speaker 2: ready out of the box. And he certainly showed that
21:47
Speaker 2: earlier this year in that very simple yet extremely thoughtful
21:52
Speaker 2: and well executed play at the goal line there because
21:55
Speaker 2: they could not get the ball into the end zone previously.
21:59
Speaker 2: I thought that that showed real growth for the entire unit,
22:02
Speaker 2: especially a team that knows how to execute in those
22:05
Speaker 2: very slim situational margins like that.
22:07
Speaker 4: Yeah.
22:08
Speaker 3: Absolutely, And since we're showering him with so much praise
22:10
Speaker 3: for a well called couple of plays. Let's listen to it.
22:14
Speaker 5: Two good plays.
22:16
Speaker 1: Here's the snap from Andrews Mills takes to give Bros.
22:20
Speaker 1: White shot cut Touchcown Frish Jed Kirk the Texad score.
22:25
Speaker 2: They tie it up.
22:26
Speaker 1: They could take the lead with the extra point. Davis
22:29
Speaker 1: Mills TD passed to a wide oldpen Aggy Christick Kirk.
22:35
Speaker 3: What is the formula of taking down a team that
22:37
Speaker 3: seems to be the favorite on the road, a team
22:39
Speaker 3: that has Super Bowl aspirations executing in spots like that?
22:44
Speaker 3: And you know, we've talked about him a little bit again,
22:46
Speaker 3: But since we're running through some bright spots in this game,
22:48
Speaker 3: let's give a shout out to Kaylin Bullock.
22:50
Speaker 4: Why not.
22:50
Speaker 3: Let's go listen to his first interception of this game.
22:53
Speaker 3: It was a big spot.
22:55
Speaker 4: Allan digs in.
22:56
Speaker 1: He's gonna throw Alan fires downfield and to Dad, it'll
23:00
Speaker 1: stepped it across the forty Bullock thirty twenty and escapes
23:05
Speaker 1: another tackle off to the right side, fifteenth Pullock to
23:08
Speaker 1: the ten, Bullock five and so touchdown, flag down on
23:14
Speaker 1: the plane kill into the house. Is it gonna come
23:18
Speaker 1: back or is it gonna stand during your return?
23:21
Speaker 4: First of all, leave a mind side block and get
23:23
Speaker 4: hitting her.
23:24
Speaker 5: Seventeen team number ninety five, fifteen yard county.
23:27
Speaker 1: From the stone tiles, bullet up picks it up. And
23:32
Speaker 1: that's too bad.
23:35
Speaker 4: It is too bad.
23:35
Speaker 3: And you know, Jordan, you and I were always focusing
23:37
Speaker 3: on the pauses or trying to lift people up.
23:39
Speaker 4: But I'm gonna put it on your plate right now.
23:40
Speaker 3: Call out the man who is responsible for wiping out
23:43
Speaker 3: that highlight.
23:44
Speaker 5: Oh and yeah, you saw it. It could have been
23:46
Speaker 5: a touchdown.
23:47
Speaker 2: It could have been I think the first pick six
23:49
Speaker 2: that actually was returned interception returned for a touchdown that
23:52
Speaker 2: Josh Allen has thrown. And I think they said on
23:54
Speaker 2: the broad has over three thousand passes, which is crazy,
23:59
Speaker 2: and someone please check me on that. I should definitely
24:01
Speaker 2: have that. But Derek Barnett and I texted you. I said,
24:04
Speaker 2: freaking Derek Barnett, because.
24:06
Speaker 5: You saw it. It was so blatant. It was right there.
24:09
Speaker 5: It wasn't even.
24:09
Speaker 2: Away from the play at all. The block in the
24:12
Speaker 2: back was so blatant. Derek Barnett got his moment back.
24:15
Speaker 2: He had a big sack and a hit on Josh
24:17
Speaker 2: Allen and crunch time. Obviously late in the game, but
24:20
Speaker 2: we were texting the group and we were like, Wow,
24:22
Speaker 2: we've got a really fun game. And then on the
24:25
Speaker 2: previews show, we had been talking about how I'm like,
24:27
Speaker 2: the Texans defense is going to score and they probably
24:30
Speaker 2: have to in order to win this game, and there
24:32
Speaker 2: it was, Nick, it was happening, and I was finally
24:34
Speaker 2: right about one thing in my life. And then Derek
24:37
Speaker 2: Barnett goes and hits the crap out at Dawson Knox
24:40
Speaker 2: and wipes it out, so close.
24:42
Speaker 3: To being Nostra Jordan instead, you just have to settle
24:45
Speaker 3: with almost accurate with your prediction.
24:47
Speaker 2: It was.
24:48
Speaker 4: I tweeted about this late in the game.
24:51
Speaker 3: It's just I'm so happy to see a player like
24:52
Speaker 3: Bullet gets some shine on a national stage because he's
24:55
Speaker 3: such an instinctive player, and he also, you know, another
24:58
Speaker 3: part of the formula of beating a favorite that you
25:00
Speaker 3: know comes into your place and is expected to win,
25:03
Speaker 3: winning the turnover margin. And the Texans won that three
25:06
Speaker 3: to nothing tonight because of the two interceptions by Bullock,
25:08
Speaker 3: but also because of the force fumble by Bullock on
25:12
Speaker 3: a pass to Khalil Shakir that stopped the Buffalo drive
25:15
Speaker 3: dead in its tracks. So just a great performance, a
25:17
Speaker 3: complete performance all around by the defense that leads to
25:20
Speaker 3: this victory and Detectionans six to five. Threatening they're right there.
25:26
Speaker 3: They were entered tonight at the same you know, level
25:28
Speaker 3: record wise as the Chiefs and the Ravens, and they
25:31
Speaker 3: keep winning.
25:31
Speaker 4: Right now. This is three straight victories for them.
25:33
Speaker 3: They got a big AFC South matchup coming up against
25:36
Speaker 3: the Colts in week thirteen, ten days from now, and
25:39
Speaker 3: then they play Kansas City Arizona, the Raiders, the Chargers
25:43
Speaker 3: and the Colts. It is not crazy to say that
25:46
Speaker 3: they could win three or more of those games and
25:49
Speaker 3: potentially finished with nine or ten wins and b right
25:52
Speaker 3: on the cusp of getting in the playoffs is perhaps
25:55
Speaker 3: the six or seven seed. What a turnaround that would
25:58
Speaker 3: be for a team that seemed dead water just a
26:00
Speaker 3: few weeks ago.
26:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's pretty incredible, and I think it speaks again
26:04
Speaker 2: to Demiko Ryans and the culture that he's built. There's
26:07
Speaker 2: no quid in this team. This defense knows and believes
26:11
Speaker 2: that it is the most professional unit on the field
26:13
Speaker 2: in every game that it plays, and you saw that
26:15
Speaker 2: right out of the gate in these losses, regardless of
26:18
Speaker 2: what struggles the offense was having, They're going to start
26:23
Speaker 2: all of this and this crazy ride that will be
26:26
Speaker 2: the latter part of their season by watching this weekend
26:30
Speaker 2: Chiefs Colts, and I think they probably you don't ever
26:33
Speaker 2: want to be rooting for any any of your AFC opponents,
26:36
Speaker 2: but I think they've got to be kind of rooting
26:37
Speaker 2: for the Chiefs in this one.
26:39
Speaker 3: Nick, Yeah, I mean they if they really have aspirations
26:42
Speaker 3: of climbing back into the AFC South race, they need
26:45
Speaker 3: the Colts to lose and then they need to beat
26:48
Speaker 3: that next week to get the little twofer and really
26:50
Speaker 3: get back into it. So you're right, and you're absolutely right.
26:52
Speaker 3: And on the other side of the field with the
26:53
Speaker 3: Buffalo Bills, they drop to what is it now, seven
26:56
Speaker 3: and four, and look, this is totally fine for them.
27:00
Speaker 3: I mean, they're they're not the team that we thought
27:03
Speaker 3: they might be. They're not the powerhouse team that we
27:06
Speaker 3: saw from previous years, but they're still right in the
27:08
Speaker 3: thick of it. The downside is that you are two
27:10
Speaker 3: games buying the Patriots, Yes, the Patriots in the AFC
27:12
Speaker 3: East in a climb that is becoming steeper and steeper
27:16
Speaker 3: with performances like this.
27:17
Speaker 4: I think my biggest.
27:18
Speaker 3: Concern with them is that you just don't know who
27:20
Speaker 3: you're going to get from week to week. Yeah, whether
27:21
Speaker 3: it's a team that just gets outperformed on the road
27:23
Speaker 3: in Miami or a team that wins a shootout over
27:26
Speaker 3: Tampa Bay. I just don't know who they are right now.
27:28
Speaker 3: But on their side, the outlook for them going forward
27:31
Speaker 3: is they have Pittsburgh, which is going to be another test.
27:33
Speaker 3: It's in Pittsburgh, and they're going to have to play
27:35
Speaker 3: better than they did tonight. Pittsburgh doesn't know a defense
27:37
Speaker 3: as good as the Textans, pretty much nobody does in
27:39
Speaker 3: the NFL. Then you get Cincinnati, you get the Patriots,
27:42
Speaker 3: big divisional game, you get the Browns, the Eagles, and
27:44
Speaker 3: the Jets. So there's still a path for them to
27:47
Speaker 3: you know, I mean, I think the next gen probability
27:49
Speaker 3: of them making the playoffs was going to be like
27:51
Speaker 3: eighty seven percent if they lost tonight. So it's not
27:53
Speaker 3: a panic mode for them, but it is an example
27:55
Speaker 3: of a team that's just pretty inconsistent and continues to
27:58
Speaker 3: get banged up. Had multiple injuries the defensive side of
28:00
Speaker 3: the ball tonight that undoubtedly hurt them. So you're hoping
28:03
Speaker 3: that some of those guys can get healthy in time
28:05
Speaker 3: for them to make this stretch run. And most importantly,
28:08
Speaker 3: we do have to keep our eyes attuned to Josh
28:11
Speaker 3: Allen stats because he got banged up tonight.
28:14
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean he was.
28:15
Speaker 2: He took a beating and like we mentioned, he was
28:17
Speaker 2: shaking his hand out. You could tell it was bothering him.
28:20
Speaker 2: He had like some pretty gnarly turf burn on his
28:22
Speaker 2: arm at one point as well too, that had to
28:24
Speaker 2: get wrapped up. You know, it was you started to
28:28
Speaker 2: really feel for the Bills, and I think you have
28:31
Speaker 2: really all season because every game it's like multiple people
28:34
Speaker 2: that are exiting the game with injuries.
28:37
Speaker 5: To El Bernard, that was a really tough one to see.
28:40
Speaker 2: And then he was on the sideline with a sling,
28:43
Speaker 2: and you know, the concussion tent line had a lot
28:47
Speaker 2: a waiting line. The concussion tent had a waiting line
28:50
Speaker 2: because of how many unfortunately guys were having to get
28:53
Speaker 2: checked out and in and out of the you know,
28:57
Speaker 2: the checkups and the spotters were definitely on it for
29:02
Speaker 2: them tonight and I just feel like and then you also,
29:06
Speaker 2: the play clock was not working. We need to mention
29:08
Speaker 2: this because otherwise, Nick, we are gonna get angry Bills
29:11
Speaker 2: fans in our comments sections. It with two in the
29:14
Speaker 2: two minute warning at the end of the game, needing
29:17
Speaker 2: a touchdown and driving down the field down four the
29:21
Speaker 2: play clock goes out.
29:22
Speaker 5: That sucks.
29:23
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm not there's no part of me that
29:26
Speaker 2: will ever dwell in conspiratorial whatevers, but like that just
29:30
Speaker 2: flat out sucks that you can't see it on the screen.
29:33
Speaker 2: You have to do it mentally in your head or
29:35
Speaker 2: you're doing it at least until fifteen seconds with the
29:38
Speaker 2: coach in the headset before that cuts off. And then
29:40
Speaker 2: when it did come back on, it was the wrong
29:43
Speaker 2: play that it was the wrong count on.
29:44
Speaker 5: The play clock. It was just very odd.
29:46
Speaker 2: I hope we get a pull report or something out
29:48
Speaker 2: of that tonight from those great local reporters on both
29:52
Speaker 2: sides for those beats. But yeah, it just the Bills
29:55
Speaker 2: could not catch a break. They certainly ran into an
29:59
Speaker 2: absolute hurricane, but they could not catch a break.
30:02
Speaker 5: Just some like lucky bounces were not going their way.
30:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, I mean, it was a weird night because
30:07
Speaker 3: at one point they tried to restart the play clock,
30:09
Speaker 3: but it seemed like it was starting at like sixteen.
30:11
Speaker 3: Josh Allen had to hurry a snap on one play
30:13
Speaker 3: thinking that the clock was accurate. It goes down again,
30:15
Speaker 3: they announced that they're tracking it on the field again.
30:18
Speaker 3: We really need a deep dive, and like, what's the
30:20
Speaker 3: protocol here, Like who decides to turn off the communications
30:23
Speaker 3: from coach to quarterback if there's no active play clock working,
30:26
Speaker 3: because that happens upstairs in the booth, So like there's
30:28
Speaker 3: a whole chain of chain reaction that could happen when
30:31
Speaker 3: the play clock goes out.
30:32
Speaker 4: And then even I saw it.
30:32
Speaker 3: I don't know if this was a glitch with the
30:34
Speaker 3: broadcast or what, but after the play clock goes down,
30:36
Speaker 3: the game clock, at least on the score bug is
30:39
Speaker 3: like skipping seconds. Like it goes from like fifty and
30:41
Speaker 3: then like there's like an extended pause and it's forty
30:43
Speaker 3: eight and there's extended posse and there's forty six.
30:45
Speaker 4: And they iron that out quickly. But some weird stuff.
30:47
Speaker 3: A referee got hurt tonight and got carted off. Just
30:50
Speaker 3: a weird, crazy night, But that is what Thursday night
30:53
Speaker 3: football provides us with craziness, and that's why the NFL
30:57
Speaker 3: is so popular, because people love to sit down and
31:00
Speaker 3: watch it all unfold. You know, it wasn't weird doing
31:02
Speaker 3: this show with you. The kids charge again again and
31:06
Speaker 3: you know what I feel like, now we're getting privileges,
31:09
Speaker 3: like now we can make the pizza roles in the
31:12
Speaker 3: oven and we can use the microwave, don't turn the
31:14
Speaker 3: stove on.
31:14
Speaker 4: We haven't gotten stove privileges yet, but we're getting there. Jordan.
31:17
Speaker 4: It was It was a great, great time with you
31:20
Speaker 4: doing this show tonight.
31:21
Speaker 5: Yeah, this was a blast.
31:22
Speaker 2: We also got a fun game, which not all of
31:24
Speaker 2: these have been like our very specific type of weird,
31:27
Speaker 2: crazy fun, Nick, So I'm glad that we got one
31:29
Speaker 2: of these good ones to talk about. If the if
31:32
Speaker 2: the broadcast does not sound excited, at least we are
31:35
Speaker 2: freaking jacked about this entire game tonight. And I always
31:40
Speaker 2: look forward to getting to do these shows with you.
31:42
Speaker 2: Greg kicks us out now when he has you on
31:44
Speaker 2: for the for the recap, So I appreciate that I
31:48
Speaker 2: got to speak with you today. Nick.
31:50
Speaker 3: Well, you know he likes his one on one time, right, Yeah,
31:53
Speaker 3: and we got thirty minutes to one on one, time
31:54
Speaker 3: to right, and the Sins got one more win in
31:58
Speaker 3: their ledger. Texan's beat the Bills tonight again, twenty three
32:03
Speaker 3: to nineteen for Nick Schuck, for Jordan Rodrige.
32:06
Speaker 4: I'm Nick Schuck. We'll see you then,