Bills stomp overmatched Texans for third straight win

The victory sets the stage for a crucial game against Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday night.

A stifling defense, typical nasty Buffalo weather and some strong running by Devin Singletary and Zack Moss behind a tweaked offensive line conspired to help the Bills spank the visiting Houston Texans, 40-0, Sunday.

The win solidifies Buffalo's stranglehold atop the AFC East standings and automatically thrusts next Sunday night's matchup with the Chiefs in Kansas City into the national spotlight.

The teams met in the AFC Championship Game last season, with the Chiefs prevailing on their home field.

After four games this season, the Bills are 3-1 and Chiefs 2-2 after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday. A win by the Bills next Sunday would give them a two-game lead as well as the tiebreaker advantage for home field in the playoffs, should they meet again.

Though the game against Houston featured a sloppy start, that saw quarterback Josh Allen throw wild and get picked off on his team's first offensive play, the Texans and rookie quarterback Davis Mills eventually were overcome by Buffalo's talent superiority.

Allen completed 20 passes in 29 attempts for 248 yards and two touchdowns — both to tight end Dawson Knox — before giving way to Mitchell Trubisky in the fourth quarter.

Behind an offensive line that featured Daryl Williams moving from right tackle to right guard, rookie Spencer Brown plugging in at right tackle for Williams and Ike Boettger getting the start at left guard for the injured Jon Feliciano (concussion), the running game also flourished as Devin Singletary (14 carries, 79 yards) and Zack Moss (14 carries, 61 yards, one TD) each enjoyed productive games.

The Bills also were without safety Jordan Poyer, who was out with an ankle injury. They covered that hole too with Jaquan Johnson, who had one of the Bills' four interceptions and five total takeaways.

Despite being stopped twice on fourth down and committing two costly penalties on punt returns, the Bills still went to halftime with a 16-0 advantage, thanks to three field goals by Tyler Bass.

Stifled throughout, The Texans finished with 109 net offensive yards and just six first downs, leading to the Bills owning a 38:15 to 21:45 advantage in time of possession.

Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.