The defense is in Legion of Boom territory after chasing Josh Allen, the Bills

The Buffalo Bills ran into a smear in Week 12. Just a few days later Josh Allen scored six touchdowns against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston Texas‘ stifling defense kept him out of the end zone. The The Texans pursued Allen relentlesslysacking him eight times for 70 yards. Houston improved to 6-5 on the season with a 23-19 win over Buffalo on Thursday Night Football.

The Texans announced their presence to a national audience Thursday night. After the game, linebacker Azez Al-Shaired that Houston has “the best defense in the league, top to bottom.” And he is not wrong. The Texans boast the NFL’s best overall defense as well as the No. 1 defense in the league this season.

Houston seems to have something special on the defensive side of the ball in 2025. The unit is allowing fewer yards per game than the Seattle Seahawks’ famed Legion of Boom in 2013, according to ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime. And the Texans are closing in on the 2013 Seahawks in points per game.

The Texans’ stifling defense takes center stage on TNF

The Seahawks led their shutout defense to a Super Bowl title in 2013. That season, Seattle boasted the NFL’s best total defense, allowing just 273.6 yards per game. The team also had the stingiest defense, holding opponents to 14.4 points per possession.

The Texans are giving up 264.3 yards per game through Week 12. And Houston allows just 16.5 points per game.

For a more recent comparison, the elite 2024 Philadelphia Eagles defense, which embarrassed Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, allowed 278.5 yards and 17.8 points per game during the regular season.

Thursday night’s fun came at Buffalo’s expense The Texans dominated Josh Allen. The veteran KB seemed under constant pressure with no time to throw.

Aside from impressive totals of sacks (eight) and quarterbacks (12), Houston’s defensive linemen deserve praise for maintaining discipline. Allen routinely punished overaggressive rushers by escaping the pocket and piling up the yards. But in Week 12, the dual-threat quarterback was shut down.

Allen threw for 253 yards without a score with two picks. He was limited to just 20 yards rushing in the Texans’ primetime win.