Week 1 Game Recap: Houston Texans 7, Buffalo Bills 22

What you need to know

Houston Texans

The Texans started the game badly. Their opening series went three and out, ending when David Carr was sacked by Aaron Schobel. On their next possession, Carr tried to find Andre Johnson on third down, but the pass was picked off by Troy Vincent. David Carr looked jittery throughout and came under a lot of pressure from the Bills’ defense. Carr fumbled the ball away on his own 27 yard line on the Texans’ third possession. They did not manage a first down until well into the second quarter. Houston’s only score came on a one yard run by Carr. Whether he actually got in is not certain, but the Bills had used all of their timeouts and could not ask for a review to challenge the play. Carr tried to open up the Bills’ defense late in the third quarter, throwing a 45 yard pass into the end zone. Unfortunately for Carr, the pass was intercepted by Troy Vincent. Carr’s miserable day ended with a third interception when Lawyer Milloy caught a pass intended for Matt Murphy.

Carr’s struggles naturally carried over to the receivers. TE Mark Bruener was the leading receiver for the Texans with a 19 yard catch on his only target. Carr looked to Andre Johnson most often, but was only able to connect on three passes for 18 yards from his eight attempts.

Domanick Davis only had 14 rushing attempts on the day, gaining 48 yards in all. He had two runs of seven yards in the Texans’ opening possession of the third quarter but was never able to consistently run the ball.

The Texans had six penalties on the day and they turned the ball over five times. It was as if they weren’t really ready to play football. The pressure from the Bills’ defense prevented the Texans from ever finding any kind of rhythm on offense and it was hard to take any positives from the game. They did manage to convert three of ten third downs and Carr’s touchdown run was a fourth down conversion.

Buffalo Bills

The 2005 Bills answered a lot of questions in their opening game, and totally dominated the Texans. They held the ball for over 38 minutes.

J.P. Losman snapped out of the preseason funk he’d been suffering from. The coaching staff gave him the opportunity to challenge the Texans in the air, rather than utilizing the strong running game from the start. Losman made good decisions, throwing the ball away rather than forcing it, and only made one truly poor throw all day when he should have been intercepted on the Bills’ opening drive of the second half. Losman also showed his mobility and had a long gain of 19 yards on the ground.

The Bills’ passing game was not dominant but it was good enough to keep the Texans’ defense off balance. Eric Moulds had four receptions but Lee Evans had the longest gain of the day with a 42 yard catch on the opening drive of the game.

The running game looked bad early on and Willis McGahee struggled to make an impression. McGahee briefly left the game at one point and had his leg taped, but quickly returned and did not look injured. McGahee looked much better in the second quarter and had a number of effective runs during the remainder of the game. McGahee nearly scored, coming up about a foot short after carrying five times for 42 yards at the end of the first half.

Rian Lindell was perfect on the day, converting five field goals and an extra point.

Offensive lineman Jason Peters lined up as an eligible receiver and caught J.P. Losman’s first ever NFL touchdown late in the first half. Losman threw over the approaching pass rush to find Peters clear in the end zone from a yard out.

The Bills’ defense was dominant all day. They sacked David Carr five times, intercepted him three times and recovered two fumbles. They continually broke through the Texans’ offensive line and Carr was never comfortable. The only negative points in the Bills’ performance were that they had 10 penalties in the game and only converted one of their six scoring drives into a touchdown.

What you ought to know

QB David Carr, Pass: 9 - 21 - 70 - 0 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 7 - 40 - 1

Carr looked bad in this game and was never comfortable at any time. The Bills’ defense brought constant pressure, sacking him five times, intercepting him three times and recovering Carr’s fumble. Carr was held to just nine completions for 70 yards in the game. The Texans’ only scoring play came on fourth down when Carr scrambled into the end zone from a yard out. It is uncertain whether he got in, but the Bills had used all of their timeouts and were unable to challenge the call. Carr’s longest completion of the day was 19 yards to Mark Bruener. His favorite target was Andre Johnson, but he could only connect on three of his eight attempts to Johnson for a total of 18 yards. Carr’s only success was on the ground. He had a long gain of 16 yards and a total of 40 yards on the ground, with a touchdown.

RB Domanick Davis, Rush: 14 - 48 - 0, Rec: 2 - 9 - 0 (4 targets)

Davis only had 14 carries during the game for a total of 48 yards. He had two runs of seven yards to start the third quarter, but was unable to consistently move the ball. Davis ran to the two yard line to set up a first and goal, and Carr was able to complete the drive with a one yard run. Davis fumbled on the Texans’ opening drive of the second quarter and the ball was recovered by the Bills. Davis was only targeted four times in the passing game, catching two for nine yards and gaining a first down.

WR Andre Johnson, Rush: 2 - 7 - 0, Rec: 3 - 18 - 0 (8 targets)

Johnson was unable to have an impact on this game despite being Carr’s favorite target. He did gain a first down and also ran the ball twice on the reverse. Most of Johnson’s targets were badly thrown and out of reach.

WR Corey Bradford (2 targets)

Bradford was targeted twice in the game but did not have a catch.

TE Matt Murphy, Rec: 1 - 14 - 0 (2 targets)

Murphy caught one pass for 14 yards and the opening first down of the game for the Texans on their fourth possession.

TE Mark Bruener, Rec: 1 - 19 - 0 (1 targets)

Bruener was only targeted once in the game. He caught a 19 yard pass for a first down.

PK Kris Brown 0 - 0 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 1 points

Brown converted the extra point on the Texans’ only score of the game.

HOU Rush Defense

The Texans’ rush defense began the game strongly, and Willis McGahee was unable to get anything going until the second quarter. The Texans allowed 42 rushing yards on the drive that led to the Bills’ touchdown and gave up a number of significant runs. They allowed McGahee to convert on fourth and two. The rush defense gave up a total of 152 net rushing yards, the bulk of which went to McGahee and Losman.

HOU Pass Defense

The Texans’ pass defense was surprisingly challenged on the opening drive of the game and did not look convincing. Losman was able to generate several drives on the day and 164 net passing yards. Jason Simmons managed the only sack of the day for Houston.

QB J.P. Losman, Pass: 17 - 28 - 170 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 6 - 31 - 0

Losman had a very good debut for the Bills. The coaching staff decided to let him challenge the Texans in the air on the opening drive and he responded with five straight completions before overthrowing Sam Aiken at the goal line. Losman looked sharp and made good decisions all day. He did look a little shaky at the start of the second half and should have been intercepted by Antwan Peek. Losman was sacked just once in the game and showed great awareness by seemingly sensing the pressure from behind and cradling the ball as he went to ground. One thing that was evident is that Losman is very mobile. He was able to scramble on several occasions and was not afraid to run the ball if no receivers were open. He had one long run up the middle for 19 yards and a first down. Losman threw his first touchdown pass in the NFL just before the half, absorbing the pressure from the pass rush and finding lineman Jason Peters in the end zone for the score.

RB Willis McGahee, Rush: 22 - 117 - 0, Rec: 3 - 15 - 0 (4 targets)

Willis McGahee started the game slowly and could not get anything going in the first quarter. He briefly left the game after injuring his leg, but returned after it was taped and did not look injured. The Bills’ running game started to look more effective after they replaced the injured Chris Villarrial with Duke Preston and McGahee ran five times for 42 yards with first down runs of 11 yards and 17 yards just before the half. He almost scored to end the drive but was about a foot short. McGahee caught three passes for 15 yards.

RB Shaud Williams, Rush: 7 - 14 - 0, Rec: 2 - 11 - 0 (2 targets)

Williams was used to spell McGahee and saw some carries late in the game when the result was beyond reasonable doubt. He ran seven times for 14 yards to run out the clock.

WR Eric Moulds, Rec: 4 - 40 - 0 (7 targets)

Moulds was the most heavily targeted Bills’ receiver, catching four of his seven targets, three of which were for first downs. Moulds was also targeted twice in the end zone but neither pass was catchable. Losman seemed to have confidence in Moulds.

WR Lee Evans, Rush: 1 - -10 - 0, Rec: 3 - 68 - 0 (5 targets)

Evans gained the most receiving yards on the day, catching three of his five targets for 68 yards. His main contribution came on the opening drive of the game when he caught a nine yard pass for a first down and on the next play had a 42 yard gain to give the Bills a first down on the Houston 16. Evans was used on a reverse once but it was badly run and he lost ten yards on the play.

WR Josh Reed, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (4 targets)

Reed caught Losman’s opening pass but was not a factor after that.

TE Mark Campbell, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (3 targets)

Campbell caught two passes on the day, the second of which went for 11 yards and a first down.

PK Rian Lindell 5 - 5 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 16 points

Lindell had a busy day, making all of his field goal attempts and also converting the extra point. Lindell was successful from 35, 21, 42, 39 and 31 yards. He also kicked a number of kickoffs deep and found the end zone on several.

BUF Rush Defense

The Bills’ rush defense held the Texans to 95 net rushing yards. They allowed Carr to scramble for 16 yards on one play, and also conceded a rushing touchdown when Carr went in from one yard. London Fletcher recovered a Domanick Davis fumble to give the Bills the ball on the Texans’ 17 yard line.

BUF Pass Defense

The Bills’ pass defense was excellent throughout the game. David Carr was under constant pressure and was sacked five times. Aaron Schobel had two sacks on the day, both ending drives. Takeo Spikes, Chris Kelsay and Jabari Greer also registered sacks. Carr was intercepted three times in the game. Troy Vincent had two of them, and Lawyer Milloy had the other at the end of the game. Milloy also recovered Carr’s fumble. The Texans’ passing game was completely stifled, gaining just 25 net yards on the day.