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I said it on the broadcast that night and I will say it again now: watching that defense was like watching a bunch of fire ants. They just kept coming. Buffalo is back at Reliant Stadium on Sunday, and that tape is the reason this matchup is worth circling.
Eight sacks, and both edges into the record book
Houston sacked Josh Allen eight times. That is a career high for him and it ties the Texans franchise record for a game. He got hit a dozen times on top of it. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half and Danielle Hunter had two, and both of them walked out of the building tied to somebody's record. Anderson had a sack in his sixth straight game, which matches what Mario Williams did in 2007. Hunter got to seven over a three-game stretch, which matches a mark J.J. Watt and Mario Williams already share.
But the number I keep coming back to is not eight. It is how many different people got there. Henry To'oTo'o had one on a boot. Mario Edwards Jr. had one late. Tim Settle Jr. got home from the inside. That is not one great player having a night. That is a defense.
The green light on the boot
Here is the part I think travels. Allen gets himself in trouble when he starts trying to do too much — and at times he absolutely is Superman, so you understand the instinct. But instead of throwing it away and punting, he tries to make something out of nothing, and against this front that is how you end up 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
Watch what Houston did every time he went on a boot. The linebackers fired. They had the green light, and they used it. Anderson's second sack was the one that told the story — he nearly had Allen at the line, Allen wriggled out of it, and Anderson got up and ran him down across the field for an 18-yard loss. That is a motor thing. You cannot scheme that.
The stop that mattered as much as any sack
And it was not only rushing the passer. Fourth and one at the Houston 23, Buffalo in a heavy set, and Sheldon Rankins — Mufasa — met the back in the backfield with help arriving fast. Turnover on downs. I was looking for DeMeco Ryans on that sideline and could not find him, because I knew exactly what he was doing over there about his defense.
Later, on a third-and-20, Edwards got home. Late in the fourth, Hunter had Allen down again for a big loss and Buffalo had to burn a timeout. This front did not get tired and it did not get bored.
What Sunday asks
Buffalo will have answers ready. They always do. But the blueprint against Allen has never really been complicated — make him hold it, close the escape lanes, and do not let one man be responsible for the sack. Houston has two edges who can win alone and a room behind them that keeps arriving. Sunday is the first look at whether that is still true.
