4 Winners and 2 losers in Houston Texans Week 5 win over Bills

The Houston Texans are 4-1 after their second-straight game ended with a last-second win. In Week 4, it was a touchdown from C.J. Stroud to Dare Ogunbowale that secured the victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. This week, it was Ka'imi Fairbairn hitting a 59-yard field goal at the buzzer to send the Buffalo Bills home with a loss.

Houston stormed out to a 20-3 lead but the Bills fought back and made it a 20-20 ball game. The defense held from there, giving them one final shot with under 10 seconds to play. Buffalo was forced to punt the ball out of the end zone and Stroud put them in range for the long kick with a five-yard dump off to Ogunbawale.

Now, they will have to turn their attention to the New England Patriots as they start a two-game road trip. For us, however, we can look back at the win and identify these four winners and two losers from Week 5.

Winner: Khalil Davis, DT

The Bills scored on their second drive of the game when Tyler Bass connected from 38 yards out. That gave them a 3-0 lead but it could have been much worse. Buffalo seemed ready to go into the end zone but the Houston defense stepped up once they hit the nine-yard line.

On first-and-goal from the nine, Khalil Davis blew up the plans by tackling James Cook for a one-yard loss. On the next play, he took advantage of Jalen Pitre's coverage, forcing Josh Allen off his primary target and sacked the quarterback for a five-yard loss.

Buffalo had a penalty and incompletion on the following snaps, resulting in the field goal. That came into play later as the extra four points would have been huge for the Bills.

Loser: Kamari Lassiter, CB

Buffalo said they wanted to target Kamari Lassiter, and they did. They didn't shy away from Derek Stingley when they thought they had an advantage but when Josh Allen needed a play, he targeted the rookie second-round pick.

The worst case for Lassiter was on a key fourth-and-five late in the third quarter. The Bills were fighting back from a 20-3 deficit and had cut the lead to 10. Buffalo rolled the dice on this crucial down and Allen hit Keon Coleman, who beat Lassiter. He then broke the tackle and raced off for a 49-yard touchdown to make it a 20-17 game.

Winner: Cam Akers, RB

With Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce out, the Texans were again turning to Cam Akers and Dare Ogunbowale. They started with Ogunbowale but Akers was out there before long and made the first big play for the offense.

Trailing 3-0, the Texans took the lead when Akers capped off a 70-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run.

Ogubawale was a stud as a receiver but Akers was the steady option on the ground. He finished with 42 yards on just nine attempts with the touchdown.

Loser: Robert Woods, WR

With Steven Sims out, the Texans turned to veteran Robert Woods as the return man and he made a terrible decision on two returns. Woods fielded the ball inside the five twice, and both times his team ended up in worst position than if he allowed it to go into the end zone.

The first time, he caught the ball at the two and returned it to the 19. That wasn't awful, but he shouldn't have attempted the return. The second was far worse.

Buffalo had to punt late in the fourth with Houston clinging to a 20-17 lead, and Woods caught it at the two and returned it for no gain. Houston had to start deep in their own territory, and C.J. Stroud fumbled the ball away at the 15, setting Buffalo up to tie the game at 20.

Winner: Nico Collins, WR

This has been quite the year for Nico Collins. The fourth-year wideout cashed in with an extension following a breakout campaign in 2023. As impressive as he was during that season, he's off to an even better start in 2024.

Collins had 489 yards and 30 receptions in the first four games and had another huge game. He started with an 11-yard catch early in the first quarter and then scored on a 67-yard bomb late in the same quarter, giving his team a 14-3 lead.

The only negative from that play was that he went into the blue medical tent afterward, with a hamstring injury. He was unable to return but is still more than halfway to 1,000 yards after just five games.

Winner: Ka'imi Fairbairn, K

Ka'imi Fairbairn had a day to remember. He drilled a kick from 50 yards at the end of the second quarter. He then hit another from 47 yards away, which put him atop the record book for the most points in franchise history.

To cap things off, he calmly connected from 59 yards out with no time on the clock in the fourth quarter. That kick gave his team the 23-20 win, ending the Bills' comeback attempt.

Houston is now 4-1 and while this win was a team effort, it would have been impossible to pull it off without their trusted kicker.

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