The Bills are on a short week as they prepare for a Week 12 matchup against the Houston Texans on Thursday night. It's their first of two straight games on the road.
Here are five storylines to follow as the Bills get ready for Houston.
1. An injury update on C.J. Stroud
Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud has missed the last two games due to a concussion. The QB went down in their Week 9 game against the Broncos.
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans talked to media on Monday and said Stroud remains in concussion protocol.
"When you're in concussion protocol, there are steps to pass to be available," Ryans said. "So, we'll see how it goes."
ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and said there's a real question as to if Stroud will be ready to go.
"I think there's a real possibility C.J. Stroud will miss his third straight game, and it'll be Davis Mills again on Thursday night," Schefter said.
If Stroud can't go, it'll be backup quarterback Davis Mills. Mills has filled in for Stroud the last two games and earned two victories.
"It's obviously a challenge," defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said of preparing for two quarterbacks. "They're both good quarterbacks. We'll do our due diligence on both of them and just be ready to go for whatever happens."
In Week 10, the Texans beat the Jaguars 36-29. Mills had three offensive touchdowns as he threw for two and rushed in for one. He was 27 of 45 (60%) for 292 passing yards and had one interception.
Houston beat the Titans 16-13 in Week 11. Mills didn't have as much production as he finished with one touchdown, going 26 of 41 (63%) for 274 passing yards. Mills did help orchestrate a game-winning drive as the Texans had that ball and were tied with 1:35 to go. Mills had a 13-yard pass, 17-yard pass and seven-yard pass during the drive to help set up a 35-yard field goal as time expired.
If Stroud can play, the QB is averaging 212.8 passing yards per game, completing 66.5% of his passes and has 11 passing touchdowns in eight games.
2. Building off a big passing performance
Against Tampa Bay, the Bills had their second-best game of the season in terms of their passing numbers. Buffalo's 317 passing yards in Week 11 were second to their 394 against Baltimore in Week 1.
The big plays were working for the Bills as they had eight receptions of at least 20 yards against Tampa Bay, the second-most in the league for Week 11. Thanks to the explosive plays, Josh Allen averaged 10.6 yards per pass attempt against the Buccaneers, his highest of the season. Buffalo also now has the most plays in the NFL of 20 or more yards at 50.
As the Bills get ready for the best defense in the NFL in the Texans (allow 258.1 total yards per game), they'll need to make sure they can find wins in the pass game and the run game.
"It's that balance of how can you do both on offense and do it well," McDermott said of being two-dimensional. "And when you can do it well, it certainly makes it harder to call defenses when you can run it and throw it."
The Bills saw good production from two unusual suspects – wide receivers Tyrell Shavers and Gabe Davis. Shavers has played a role on special teams in addition to the offense this year and saw an uptick in offensive snaps (30 snaps, 54%) in Week 11. He was the leading receiver catching four passes for 90 receiving yards and a touchdown.
"No job too small. No job too big, either," McDermott said of Shavers' mindset. "And that's why he's such a great teammate. When he fits what we do, and he goes out there and performs in the passing game…What that does is build trust. When you are where you are supposed to be, when you are supposed to be there on a scramble situation. He knows how to operate where Josh can find him. That's the level of detail we all have to have."
Davis was signed to the practice squad by the Bills earlier in the fall as he recovered from his knee injury. The WR was active for his first game back in Buffalo against Tampa Bay. Davis and Allen looked like they picked up where they left off – Allen trusted his receiver, and it resulted in three catches for 40 yards.
In terms of building off the pass-happy performance, offensive coordinator Joe Brady believes you have to earn it every week, and momentum is something that's not just a given.
"I want the guys to feel confidence, and I'm so excited for what that did yesterday," Brady said of the explosive passing game. "I think it will help us moving forward, but our approach, our mindset, we can't think just because we had one good game that way, we're just going to be able to show up and pass the football. (We have to) make sure that our process is the same. We've had too many ups and downs to my liking this point offensively, so we got to continue to work."
3. Getting ready for the best defense in the NFL
In Week 11, Buffalo fell back on its pass game to win as Tampa Bay clogged up the run game. Though Josh Allen and the Bills proved it can win with the run game, pass game, or combination of the two, Thursday is going to put both to the test.
Houston is third in rushing yards allowed per game (87.1) and fourth in yards allowed per rush (3.9). With running back James Cook III, Buffalo leads the NFL in rushing yards per game with 147.6 and is fifth in yards per rush with 4.9.
Buffalo faced a middle-of-the-pack defense in Week 11 against Tampa Bay, but couldn't stabilize the run game early on – something offensive coordinator Joe Brady emphasized throughout the season as a priority. Thursday will be even tougher for the Bills to get Cook cooking.
The Bills' pass game took a step forward to win on Sunday. It ranks third and pass yards per attempt (8.4) and eighth in pass yards per game (239.8). On Thursday, it will face a defense that's second in pass yards per attempt (6.1) and third in pass yards per game (171).
Allen threw for 317 yards in Week 12, getting wide receivers Tyrell Shavers and Gabe Davis heated up while throwing Cook in there when the run game faltered. With tight end Dalton Kincaid's status unsure with a hamstring injury, the wide receiver room has more responsibility to take on. Successful big-time plays, like ones from Sunday's game, can be a difference maker in a defensive contest against Houston.
The Texans also have the No. 1 defense in points allowed per game (16.3) and total yards allowed per game (258.1).
"They're really good at everything," Brady said of the Texans. "… I was waiting for them to say what they're not good at, but I think the biggest thing is it's an opportunity for us."
Buffalo accumulated 30 or more points in six of seven of its wins so far in 2025. The only win they didn't reach that mark was its 28-21 win against the Chiefs in Week 9. The Bills are tied for fourth in total points per game (29.2) and rank second for total yards per game (387.4).
In its three losses, the Bills had 20 or less points. They lost 23-20 against the Patriots, 24-14 against the Falcons and 30-13 against the Dolphins.
However, this also means that the Texans' offense with an unknown quarterback situation will need to put up good enough numbers against a revived Buffalo defense if the Bills' offense runs into inconsistency.
Providing more hope for Buffalo is its red zone efficiency. Its offense is tied for fifth in the NFL with a 66.7 percent rating. In this area, Houston doesn't match up with the rest of its dominant defense. The Texans have a 65.2 red zone efficiency percentage as a defense, ranking near the bottom of the league at 28th.
4. Could Week 12 go down to the wire?
The Bills are no strangers to Houston, but the road hasn't been so kind to them when facing the Texans. In 2024, Buffalo fell in the final seconds after a valiant effort to come back and tie the game.
It trailed Houston by double digits at halftime. While the Bills' defense wasn't poor throughout the game, it lit up in the second half. Buffalo forced two turnovers that gave Allen and his offense a second opportunity to go down and score in the fourth quarter. If the offense reached the end zone, the Bills would have taken the lead for the first time that afternoon.
However, they settled for a field goal attempt from kicker Tyler Bass after two incompletions. Bass' attempt went through with 3:21 left on the clock to tie the game, 20-20. When Allen went back on the field, his drive was stopped short, and Buffalo punted its chance of tilting the game in its favor away. Houston ate up time on the clock and hit a 59-yard field goal to win the game and walk off with a 23-20 lead.
This was one of four losses the Bills sustained in 2024.
Before that game, the Texans were 3-1. Heading into their matchup with the Bills in 2025, they are 5-5. Both teams are coming off Week 11 wins on Sunday. Houston beat the Titans 16-13 and Buffalo defeated Tampa Bay, 44-32, in a back-and-forth battle.
Regardless of records, the Bills aren't underestimating the Texans. Buffalo strives to put together consistent performances, and Sunday's game showed hard-fought effort from all three phases of the game. Maintaining that momentum will be the challenge.
McDermott said to his team in the locker room after the game that Thursday night will be decided by whichever team has the freshest legs.
Houston's mediocre offense is facing a Bills' defense that is still coping with an injury bug and embodying the "next man up" mentality. Buffalo's top-ranked offense is butting heads with an impressive Texans' defense.
Thursday's defensive battle might come down to a second consecutive last-second decider between the Bills and Texans.
5. How great field position can help the whole team
Against Tampa Bay, the Bills totaled 234 yards on kick returns, the longest coming from wide receiver Mecole Hardman Jr. for 61 yards. Running back Ray Davis led the trio with four returns for 158 yards.
Hardman's return eventually led to Buffalo's first touchdown of the afternoon. The offense started its drive at the Buccaneers' 36-yard-line, giving the Bills optimal field position.
"As a player caller, I don't have to go as far to score," Brady said of the benefits of a positive drive start. "And it's always exciting seeing … Davis make some big plays … seeing [Hardman] come in and spark us early … Anytime you're starting with short field position, it gives you a better chance to put points on the board."
When pinned deep in their own territory in the first quarter, they struggled getting out and away from inside their own 10-yard-line. After Allen's interception, Buffalo's defense had the pressure on its back to hold Tampa Bay to a field goal. While the Bills did so successfully, that's not an ideal position they want to be in.
McDermott said on Monday that field position is beneficial for everyone on the team. For offense, it's a clear reason why: giving Josh Allen and his side of the ball an early advantage in the drive.
Going against the best defense in the league in Houston, the Bills look to take advantage of any and every opportunity to put their offense in a good spot.
As for the defense, it has a better opportunity to hold its opponent down the field. McDermott said if the Bills' offensive drive stalls for whatever reason, their opponent won't have optimal field position regardless.
"Coming into the year, we talked long and hard as a coaching staff about how the kickoff play was going to change, and how it was going to change the game overall and how the game's played, how the game's managed," McDermott said. "… a difference maker in our game [on Sunday]. Difference maker in the outcome … it's a true complementary factor in how we play."
