BUFFALO 31, HOUSTON 24

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Maybe the Buffalo Bills should just skip the first three quarters.

Drew Bledsoe completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Peerless Price with 3:55 left in the fourth quarter to give the Bills a 31-24 victory over the Houston Texans.

Five of Buffalo's six games this season have featured ties or lead changes in the fourth quarter. The Bills (3-3) trailed 24-17 in the fourth quarter and had earlier trailed by as much as 17-3.

"We came back and battled," Bills coach Gregg Williams said. "We were strong in the second half and made enough offensive plays to win a tough game on the road."

On the winning touchdown, Price received the ball in the flat and had a clear path up the sideline after some quick footwork to evade safety Matt Stevens. Price caught eight passes for 121 yards.

"I was in the slot and my guy blitzed, so I had to change my route quickly," Price said. "Drew did a great job getting me the ball and I just had an open field. Drew did a great job the whole game getting time to find us open."

Texans quarterback David Carr almost sent the Bills to their fourth overtime of the year, but could not complete a game-tying drive in the final minutes. On 4th-and-8 from the Buffalo 12 with 30 seconds left, Carr intended to hit Jermaine Lewis in the end zone, but the pass fell incomplete in double coverage.

"Looking from the film, that was the coverage we wanted for that play," Carr said. "On the film, whenever they double team like that, the second guy doesn't even look back for the ball. I didn't see what happened after I threw it, but I just know we didn't catch it."

The loss was the fourth in a row for the Texans (1-4) after a season-opening win over Dallas.

Carr was 12-for-23, throwing for 218 yards and a touchdown. On Houston's first play from scrimmage, he completed an 81-yard pass to Corey Bradford to the Buffalo 8. It was the third-longest ever passing play by an expansion team and set up a 26-yard field goal by Kris Brown.

"I felt as comfortable as I have all year," Carr said. "Offensively, this is our best game of the year. We didn't have any indecisons in what we wanted to do."

Buffalo tied the score with 10:39 left in the fourth quarter when Bledsoe fired a pass to Eric Moulds in the middle of the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown. The play was set up by a pair of 15-yard penalties against Houston linebacker Jay Foreman, a former Bill.

"I take full responsibility for it," Foreman said. "It was a stupid play on my part, period. I felt even worse after they scored on it. You can't feel any lower than I do right now."

Houston was penalized 11 times for 75 yards.

"You've got to keep your poise and composure at all times," Texans coach Dom Capers said. "There are a lot of people counting on you."

Penalties aside, the Texans could not contain Bledsoe late in the game. The Bills quarterback completed 19-of-33 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns. Acquired from New England in an offseason trade, Bledsoe moved to 2,016 yards for the season and is on pace for 5,376 this season. Dan Marino set the single-season record with 5,084 passing yards in 1984.

Houston had taken a 24-17 lead with 14:10 left when running back James Allen tossed a five-yard option pass to tight end Billy Miller for a touchdown.

Even with the late passing frenzy, both teams had significant success on the ground. Buffalo's Travis Henry carried 28 times for 159 yards and two touchdowns, while Houston's Jonathan Wells gained 70 yards on 12 carries.

"The Texans did a good job of taking away our passing game early," Bledsoe said. "It was clear they wanted to stop our receivers. We knew we had to run the ball because of the way they were playing us and Travis did a great job doing that. The offensive line allowed that to happen."

The Bills defense surrendered 5.9 yards per play and could not create a turnover. Buffalo is the only team in the NFL that has not recorded an interception this season.

Chris Watson did pick off one of Carr's passes with 3:34 left in the fourth quarter, but the play was nullified when Chidi Ahanotu was called for a personal foul. It was one of 13 Buffalo penalties for 128 yards.