The NFL Week 12 schedule kicked off on Thursday night with the Houston Texans delivering an impressive — and significant — 23-19 win over the Buffalo Bills , allowing them to keep pace in the AFC playoff race. It was another stellar showing by their defense, which should make the rest of the conference — and the league — take notice.

Here are some key takeaways from the Texans' win on Thursday:

Houston has a Super Bowl-caliber defense

Houston's defense entered Thursday's game as the No. 1 unit in the NFL in almost every major statistical category, including points against per game (16.3) and yards allowed per game (258.1). They led both categories by a fairly significant margin.

Even with those impressive numbers they had to know they were going to get a big test with reigning leag

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