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Bills edge Texans on last-second TD pass

Nov 19, 2006 - 9:21 PM HOUSTON (Ticker) -- On a record-setting day by Lee Evans and David Carr, Peerless Price stole the spotlight.

Price caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from J.P Losman with nine seconds left to lift the Buffalo Bills to a 24-21 win over the Houston Texans.

The sliding touchdown catch by Price in the back of the end zone capped a seven-play, 55-yard drive that started with 1:44 remaining. The play was reviewed by officials but upheld.

"It was an all-go route, so I was going up the seam," Price said. "I was running the route, and the guy who was covering the slot sort of backed out a couple yards, so once he did that, I wrapped around behind him. J.P. threw a great pass, and I did a good job of getting my feet down."

Losman completed five consecutive passes on the march before spiking the ball. He then tossed the winning TD pass to Price, who returned to Buffalo this year after three forgettable seasons with Atlanta and Dallas.

"As a kid, with the game on the line, you always dream of having these situations," Losman said. "We practice the (two-minute) drill at least once a week in practice. It was an awesome win, and I am just thrilled to pull it out.

"The defense did an excellent job of giving us another opportunity by forcing a punt and with a timeout left. That helped a lot, and we were able to pull it out."

Losman finished 26-of-38 for 340 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.

Evans had a brilliant performance, hauling in 11 catches for a team-record 265 yards, including a pair of 83-yard touchdown grabs in the first nine minutes of the game.

A third-year receiver out of Wisconsin, Evans eclipsed the previous team mark of 255 yards set by Jerry Butler in 1976. He broke the record with a 19-yard catch on the winning drive.

"It's very special and hard to put into words how much of an honor this is to be in that class," Evans said. "On the first touchdown, it was a bump-and-run, and we were able to beat them over the top. On the second touchdown, J.P. threw it more on a rope to beat the safety, and he got it in there."

Carr tied an NFL record by completing 22 consecutive passes in the game, matching the mark set earlier this season by Washington's Mark Brunell.

"When it popped on the screen, we were winning," Carr said of the record. "I was kind of shocked when I saw that. Twenty-four (completions) would have been nice."

But it was three incomplete passes, including one on the record-breaking attempt by Carr, that the Texans may rue the most.

Leading, 21-17, Houston took over on its own 11 with 6:27 and Carr sitting on 21 straight completions.

Rather than trying to run off some clock, Carr threw a short pass to rookie running back Wali Lundy for no gain, then followed with an incomplete pass in the left flat intended for Andre Johnson that ended the streak and stopped the clock.

The Texans got a first down on the next play, but again Carr went to the air and threw incomplete to Johnson.

Finally, on their last possession and facing a 3rd-and-2 with two minutes left, the Texans again opted to pass and Carr failed to connect with Johnson again.

"We felt like they'd come after us, and they did," Houston coach Gary Kubiak said. "We max protected, and we got our best player one-on-one on a slam route. I guess the ball was up high. I guess you second-guess yourself.

"It's a team game, but the bottom line is you have to finish in the NFL, and we didn't do that. What bothers me the most is our inability to finish."

It hardly seemed the Texans would be in position to finish after two quick 83-yard strikes from Losman to Evans gave the Bills a 14-0 lead with 6:36 left in the first quarter.

The Texans rallied behind touchdown runs from Lundy (17 yards) and Samkon Gado (one) before taking the lead on cornerback Dunta Robinson's nine-yard interception return for a 21-17 lead midway through the third quarter.