Allen delivers in the clutch, Bills escape Texans

Clearly the most highly anticipated of Sunday afternoon’s matchups, as the all-world quarterback Josh Allen and his Buffalo Bills ran into the league-leading defense of 2025 in Houston, who had his measure when the 2 teams met last season. Buffalo finished 12-5 last season but made a major change in the offseason, replacing Sean McDermott with former offensive coordinator Joe Brady as head coach, after an extended period of not being able to take that final leap. The Texans arrived with plenty of confidence after also finishing 12-5 and reaching the divisional round for a third consecutive season. The aforementioned defense remains their biggest strength, but on the other side of the ball, all eyes were on C.J. Stroud, who entered a pivotal third season looking to take another step forward, with Houston adding veteran running back David Montgomery to help provide greater balance.

Houston defeated Buffalo 23-19 in their 2025 meeting last November, sacking Allen eight times and forcing three turnovers. Allen had historically struggled against the Texans, going 1-4 in his career against Houston and 0-4 in games played there prior to today, making this opening-week matchup as much a test of Buffalo’s ability to overcome its recent nemesis as it was a battle between two AFC contenders.

A promising opening drive for Allen and the Bills was halted when his kryptonite came back to haunt him once again, as he was stuffed on 4^th and 1 by the Texans’ defensive front. They were given a reprieve in no time, however, as CJ Stroud’s season got off to the worst possible start with a strip sack, which Buffalo recovered and turned into a field goal to go in front early.

In perhaps a sign of growth from last season, Stroud shook off the turnover very quickly to deliver a few strong throws and lead Houston down the field in response, as David Montgomery ran in his first touchdown with the team to snatch the lead.

Evidently keen to silence critics and spark some life into his offense, Allen dropped jaws with a masterful drive to wrench back the lead, taking multiple hits as he found the end zone himself on a 21-yard scramble.

Again not overawed by the occasion, Stroud responded by scrambling to convert a 3^rd and long, while Houston’s run game took over to snatch back the lead, with Montgomery running in his 2^nd touchdown for the afternoon, announcing himself to the Texans faithful.

The unexpected offensive onslaught from both sides continued as a deep ball from Allen generated pass interference against Kamari Lassiter in the end zone, which the star quarter back snuck in. Shortly after, the Bills regained possession and took just 43 seconds to travel 96 yards on 3 plays, as Texans safety Reed Blankenship misjudged a sideline throw from Allen, allowing DJ Moore to score for the first time as a Bill.

Once again though, Stroud hit back. Working methodically down the field before eventually finding his primary target Nico Collins to stay in touch. Slightly differently to what most expected, the showdown was living up to the hype as Buffalo entered halftime with the upper hand.

The defense of both teams began to take over the game 3 of the 4 3^rd quarter drives ending in punts, the other being a Bills field goal through Tyler Bass.

The defensive takeover didn’t take long though, as Montgomery made his way into the end zone for the 3^rd time on the day, this time as a pass catcher, wrestling back the lead for Houston.

The game’s 6^th and 7^th lead changes came as Bass and Kaimi Fairbairn went kick-for-kick on field goals, but it was Allen, as he has done time and time again, who delivered in the clutch for the Bills, working down the field through Dalton Kincaid and eventually finding Joshua Palmer over the middle for what proved to be the game’s defining score.

Given one final chance to win the game for the Texans, Stroud fumbled on 3^rd and 18 inside the redzone as Buffalo stole a 36-31 victory from a place where they’ve been unable to in previous years.

This win, while not necessarily a complete performance, gives reason to believe that the Bills have gotten even better this season, given they’d been unable to defeat the elite Houston defense in recent history. It’ll be revealed over the next few weeks what the new look Bills have to offer under Joe Brady.

It would’ve been considered almost impossible to see the Texans winning the game and conceding 36 points, yet they had a genuine chance to do so. The loss could be viewed several ways, but they’ll have to really hope it doesn’t come back to bite them in the playoff picture later in the season.

Touchdowns
Buffalo: Allen 2, Moore, Palmer
Houston: Montgomery 3, Collins

Top Performers
Buffalo: Allen, Moore, Kincaid, Rousseau, Bernard
Houston: Montgomery, Collins, Anderson Jr., Al-Shaair

Injuries
Buffalo: N/A
Houston: To’oTo’o (shoulder)

Crowd: 71,008 at NRG Stadium