The 2026 NFL regular season is here. As we begin Week 1, Buffalo Bills insider Chris Brown breaks down three interesting storylines to know for Bills vs. Texans.

1 – Strength vs. strength

For the third time in three seasons, the Bills and Texans will square off in Houston. Buffalo is hoping for better results than previously experienced in the Lone Star State (see point No. 3 below), but in many ways the two teams carry the same strengths going into their Week 1 matchup.

Buffalo believes they've enhanced the capabilities of their fourth-highest scoring offense from a season ago with the offseason additions of WR DJ Moore and fourth-round pick WR Skyler Bell.

Houston meanwhile took steps to improve what was already the top ranked defense in football by signing S Reed Blankenship and DE Logan Hall in free agency and trading up in the second round to draft DT Kayden McDonald out of Ohio State.

Josh Allen already has a healthy respect for a Texans defense that has held him to a collective passer rating of 64.2 in three career regular season road losses at Houston along with 11 total sacks. But he also believes there's a way to overcome all that last year's number one defense can bring.

"I think early on, just completions, finding completions as a quarterback, not forcing throws early on, and just letting the game come to you," said Allen. "The defense that we're going to play Week 1, we all know what type of defense they are and how they played against us last year, and we didn't play to our potential. So again, just trying to let the game come to me, at the start."

2 – Defensive debut

The biggest unknown for the Bills entering the 2026 campaign is how their defense is going to perform as they undertake a new scheme with a new coordinator for the first time in a decade.

New defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard wants an attacking-style defense that dictates play to the opponent and creates favorable matchups when they get opposing offenses in long down and distance.

Priority number one, however, will be stopping the run with far greater consistency than the defense did a season ago when they ranked 28^th in run defense (136.2) and 30^th in yards per carry against (5.1).

Leonhard identified tackling as the Achilles' heel of Buffalo's defense last season, and it was a big reason why the Bills surrendered more 30-plus yard touchdown runs in a season in NFL history with eight.

Buffalo's defensive play caller has emphasized sound fundamentals and getting bodies to the football to minimize positive gains for the opponent. But beyond fundamentals, head coach Joe Brady is encouraged by Leonhard's desire to vary the defensive looks as much as possible.

"I think the versatility is a huge piece," said Brady of Buffalo's defense. "We want to be able to fly around, we want to be able to be physical, we want to make plays on the ball. But there's a versatility that I think should continue to make it challenging on offenses. If you know exactly where guys are going to be, it makes it easy for an offense, and I think that versatility is something that should be an advantage for us as we progress throughout the season."

3 – Exorcising demons

The Bills have found the confines of Reliant Stadium in Houston to be anything but friendly over the years. Buffalo has dropped each of their last five regular season meetings with the Texans in Houston, and a sixth in the 2019 AFC Wild Card Playoff. Each of the last four regular season meetings on the road with the Texans have been decided by seven points or less, and the Wild Card Playoff game was decided in overtime on a game-winning field goal.

The last time the Bills won in Houston was in 2006, when JP Losman hit Peerless Price for a game-winning 15-yard touchdown pass with nine seconds remaining (24-21).

Buffalo would prefer to avoid another nailbiter, but they'll happily take a victory to open the season no matter how they get it.

Former Bills' center, Mitch Morse, who was in the lineup when the Bills dropped that 2019 Wild Card game, made an appearance on ‘One Bills Live’ this week and outlined how players look at opponent history like that.

"History can repeat itself, but it doesn't have to when you're cognizant of it," said Morse. "You focus on the things you can control. And this is a new season, and this season feels like a season of change. Not just because of the new stadium, but also an influx of youth. Only a handful of players have been around for this unsuccessful stretch. There are a number of mantras that can light a team up. I think this team is in a place where they're sick and tired of being sick and tired. And I think that this team has taken that and they're going to run with it."