Recap: Buffalo vs. Houston

Sports Network | November 1, 2009

Orchard Park, NY (Sports Network) - Ryan Moats scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns as Houston rallied to best Buffalo, 31-10, at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Moats finished with 126 yards rushing on 23 attempts for the Texans (5-3), who have won three consecutive games and posted their first 5-3 record in franchise history.

Matt Schaub completed 25-of-34 passes for 268 yards but was intercepted twice, while Andre Johnson came up with six catches for 63 yards and Kris Brown booted three field goals.

"If you want to be a good football team and go anywhere in this league, you have to go through adversity," said Texans head coach Gary Kubiak. "It makes you grow stronger. It tells you about the character of the group. They had a tremendous second half."

Starting again in place of Trent Edwards, who is recovering from a concussion, Ryan Fitzpatrick was an ineffective 15-of-23 for 117 yards and two picks for the Bills (3-5), who had won two in a row on the road.

Marshawn Lynch was limited to 43 yards on nine carries and Terrell Owens posted five receptions for 39 yards and ran for Buffalo's only touchdown in defeat.

Houston's opening drive of the third quarter stalled inside the Bills' five, and Brown hit from 26 yards to bring Houston within 10-9, and the Texans engineered a long drive to bridge the third and fourth to take their first lead of the contest.

Moats capped the 72-yard, 10-play march with an 11-yard dash up the middle for a score on the second play of the final period. Schaub then connected with Johnson at the back of the end zone for the conversion and a 17-10 edge.

Buffalo went three-and-out, then gambled and lost on a fake punt, giving Houston the ball on the Buffalo 37. Schaub hit Johnson for 15 yards and two plays later, Moats ran for 17 yards to the one. After one unsuccessful bid, Moats fell into the end zone and it was 24-10 with 9:50 to go.

Moats completed the trifecta on a three-yard dash with 3:34 to play and Houston wrapped up the game ahead 31-10. Jacques Reeves set up the drive by picking off Fitzpatrick at the Texans' 30 and returning the ball to midfield.

Brian Cushing's pick on the ensuing Bills drive killed any idea of a comeback, and Schaub took a knee to run out the remaining time.

"We couldn't get it done," said Bills head coach Dick Jauron. "The missed fake punt was huge, obviously. We didn't give the defense much help with a short field to defend. We were looking for some kind of a spark offensively and it failed. From there things just snowballed and before you know it, we were down by 21 points."

Late in the first quarter, Schaub was picked off by Jairus Byrd and the Bills were set up on Houston's 29. On the next play, Owens took an end-around down the left sideline for a 7-0 game.

The Texans responded on the following drive, going 50 yards in eight plays, and Brown's 42-yard boot early in the second made it 7-3.

Brown hit a 22-yarder with 2:18 left in the half for a one-point difference, then Fred Jackson's 71-yard kickoff got the Bills in Texans territory. After a failed connection with Owens in the back of the end zone, Rian Lindell drilled a 21-yarder for a 10-6 game at the break.

Houston's only two wins over the Bills in five total meetings have come in Buffalo...The Texans racked up 439 yards of total offense to 204 for the Bills, and made 24 first downs to only nine for the home team...Texans tight end Owen Daniels suffered an apparent sprained right knee in the first half and did not return...Houston was 7-of-13 on third downs, and limited Buffalo to 2-of-10 efficiency.