Top 3 Things We Learned

Top 3 things we learned from Bills vs. Texans | Week 1 2026

Sep 13, 2026 at 10:16 PM

Content Manager

Houston Texans vs Buffalo Bills, Regular Season, September 13, 2026 at Reliant Stadium.

Here's what we learned from the Buffalo Bills 36-31 Week 1 victory over the Houston Texans

1 — Josh Allen airs it out and leads game-winning drive

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen led his 26th career regular season game-winning drive, the most of any active QB in the NFL. His 34-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Joshua Palmer with 1:36 remaining brought his final statline to 357 total yards and four total touchdowns.

On the prior play, Allen tried to hit Palmer in the end zone on another deep pass but his high-arcing pass was nearly intercepted at the goal line. Allen made the Texans pay for the dropped INT, delivering the strike to Palmer for the eighth lead change of the game.

"Hey, it's football. What can I say? Sometimes the ball bounces your way," a relieved Allen said.

Allen's downfield aerial attack was the theme of the day for a Bills offense that had trouble getting the ground game going, with just 63 yards gained on 15 handoffs.

The Bills QB averaged 13.2 air yards per pass attempt, his highest in any game since the 2023 season. Allen also had five completions of 30 yards or more, the most of any regular season game in his career.

"Heck yeah, yeah. We love chunk plays. That's how you score 36 points," Allen said. "You give yourself the opportunity to score on four or five plays in a drive instead of the long methodical you know 13, 14, 15 plays… and that's also a way to win football games. So we don't want to just try to live off the chunk plays. We want to be smart, and we want to take our opportunities when they're there."

Allen guided the offense to two 96-yard touchdown drives on a combined 10 total plays in the win over Houston, including the go-ahead fourth quarter possession. Since individual drives began being tracked in 1993, that marks the first time the Bills have tallied two 96+ yard TD drives in a single game and just the fifth time any NFL team has done so.

Remarkably, it took the Bills nine total plays to go on touchdown drives of 67 and 19 yards.

2 — The defense made enough plays when it mattered most

It wasn't a dominant performance from Buffalo's defense, which allowed Houston to score 31 points and sustain several long drives throughout the afternoon. The Texans repeatedly found success on the ground and through the air, putting pressure on a Bills defense that was playing its first game under defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard

But when Buffalo needed a stop, its pass rush delivered on the final drive with the Bills leading 36-31.

Outside linebacker Greg Rousseau was the difference-maker, recording two sacks and forcing a fumble on each one. His second came with the Texans driving late in the fourth quarter, with Houston in the red zone and looking to set up a potential game-winning score of their own.

Rousseau got to C.J. Stroud, knocking the ball loose and allowing the Bills to escape with a five-point victory as inside linebacker Terrel Bernard recovered the ball with 10 seconds remaining.

"It was just stab and lift and just went fast," Rousseau said. "I saw the ball — there was a rush in the third, early in the fourth where I could have got it out and I didn't. So I was thinking, all right let me just get it out and we can end this game a little bit early."

Buffalo also got a critical red zone sack from Deone Walker two plays earlier, forcing the Texans to take their final timeout. That meant Houston would have to look to the end zone or sideline to gain yards with the middle of the field off limits due to the clock.

The Bills defense had nine QB hits, eight tackles for a loss, three sacks and two fumble recoveries in the Week 1 win.

"It means everything. That's what we're here for, we're here to get stops, and there's definitely a lot we can clean up," Rousseau said of the victory. "I can play a lot better. I'm sure we all got the same mindset on defense, but it's a new defense, and we're settling in and we're making plays, turning the ball over."

BILLS FORCE A FUMBLE AND WIN 🚨

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— NFL (@NFL) September 13, 2026

D.J. Moore and Dalton Kincaid were Allen's favorite targets

Bills wide receiver D.J. Moore and tight end Dalton Kincaid combined for 230 of Allen's 334 passing yards, with each player going over the century mark. It marked the second game in Bills history with a 100-yard WR and a 100-yard TE in the same game.

"Just awesome to come out with a win. See the defense stop them at the end, and us just come out victorious is all that matters," Kincaid said.

For Moore, his Bills debut culminated in a five-catch, 100-yard afternoon, the most receiving yards in a Week 1 game of his career.

"I had plays and was just waiting on my moment to get called, and when it did, I just made the best of them and went from there," Moore said. "It's all about getting into a flow state, and then you go from there with the rest of the team."

Moore's first TD as a Bill came in the first half of a 24-point performance by the offense. The veteran receiver hauled in a beautifully thrown ball by Allen along the sideline, kept both feet inbounds and then raced in for the score.

"The touchdown pass to him, kind of a kind of another horseshoe throw," Allen said. "They went kind of like a cloud coverage over there. He did a good job of settling in the hole, and again, the safety misses it by a whisker and allows us to go do that. So we'll take the plays that go our way."

Kincaid was equally as impressive, averaging 26 yards per reception during his 130-yard performance. It was the most yards in a game for a Bills tight end since 1967.

"He's a stud," Allen said of his tight end.

While he didn't reach the end zone, Kincaid came in clutch on multiple scoring drives with receptions of 38 yards, 40 and 35 yards on three separate possessions that ended in points.