C.J. Stroud threw his second touchdown pass of the day, an easy 7-yard flip to David Montgomery. It was the running back’s third touchdown in his Houston debut.
The sixth lead change of the game has given the Texans a 28-27 lead with 13:34 remaining.
The Texans converted two fourth downs in the 13-play, 72-yard drive. Montgomery had a 2-yard run on fourth-and-1 at the Houston 37 and backup running back Woody Marks ran for 3 yards on fourth-and-1 at the Buffalo 22.
Montgomery now has 18 carries for 59 yards and two touchdowns and three catches for 19 yards and a score.
Stroud is 18-of-26 for 190 yards. He lost a fumble early in the game, which led to a Bills field goal.
The Texans and Bills are playing what could end up being one of the best games of the regular season.
The back-and-forth has led to five lead changes.
The Bills lead 24-21 at halftime, gaining 224 yards against one of the NFL’s best defenses.
Josh Allen, who is 0-4 in Houston in his career, is 8-of-11 for 163 yards and a touchdown, a 43-yarder to DJ Moore. He has run for touchdowns of 21 yards and 1 yard and has 24 yards on four carries.
Moore, an offseason acquisition, has three catches for 76 yards and has drawn a 46-yard pass interference penalty on Kamari Lassiter in the end zone that set up Allen’s 1-yard score.
James Cook has six carries for 37 yards.
The Bills have not punted, but Allen was stopped for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-1 at the Houston 34 on the Bills’ first drive. Buffalo had to settle for a field goal after it had 12 players in the huddle on fourth-and-1 from the Houston 23 on its second drive.
The Texans have 215 yards, having punted once and have one turnover, which was a C.J. Stroud fumble on a strip-sack by Greg Rousseau that Ed Oliver recovered.
Stroud is 12-of-16 for 123 yards and a touchdown, a 12-yard pass to Nico Collins with 26 seconds left in the half. Collins has three catches for 46 yards. David Montgomery has 13 carries for 52 yards and two touchdowns.
Josh Allen is aware of his 0-4 record in Houston.
So far on Sunday, he is playing better than he ever has despite playing one of the league’s best defenses.
Allen scrambled for a 21-yard touchdown, giving the Bills a 10-7 lead with 12:46 left until halftime.
The Bills had chances to score on every drive. Allen was stopped for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-1 at the Houston 34 on the Bills’ first drive; the Bills had 12 players in the huddle on fourth-and-1 from the Houston 23 on their second drive and settled for a field; and the Bills drove 62 yards on six plays for the Allen touchdown on their third drive.
Allen is 4-of-5 for 49 yards and has three carries for 23 yards.
The Bills have 106 yards after three drives.
The Texans were 29th in red zone efficiency last season, converting only 45.9 percent of their opportunities into touchdowns. They are 1-for-1 to start 2026.
Houston has taken a 7-3 lead on the Bills on David Montgomery’s 1-yard touchdown run.
It did take the former Lions running back three times to get in from the 2 after C.J. Stroud hit Nico Collins for a 25-yard gain on third-and-8.
Stroud lost a fumble on the Texans’ first drive on a Greg Rousseau strip-sack that Ed Oliver recovered at the Houston 32. The Bills, though, converted with only a field goal after having 12 players in the huddle on fourth-and-1 at the Houston 23.
The Texans stopped the Bills on fourth-and-1 at the Houston 34 on Buffalo’s first drive.
A report on Sunday morning indicated cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was unlikely to be in the Steelers’ lineup for their season-opening game against the Falcons and official word on his status came 90 minutes before kickoff in Pittsburgh.
Porter is officially inactive for the game. Porter was listed as questionable with a back injury after spending all of training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
Porter’s inactivity this summer was also thought to be connected to his desire for a contract extension that never came together. That has reportedly opened the door to a trade as the Steelers have a team policy against negotiating contracts during the regular season.
Updates on where things stand with Porter for Week 2’s game against the Patriots and beyond will likely come this week. For Sunday, though, he’ll just be a spectator.
Falcons at Steelers
Falcons: QB Tua Tagovailoa, QB Michael Penix, DB Billy Bowman, DB Malcom DeWalt, LB Christian Harris, OL Ethan Onianwa
Steelers: CB Joey Porter Jr., QB Drew Allar, G Gennings Dunker, DL Kevin Jobity, DL Gabe Rubio, QB Will Howard
Bears at Panthers
Bears: QB Tyson Bagent, S Xavier Woods, OT Ozzy Trapilo, OL Jordan McFadden, DL Jayden Loving, DL Jamree Kromah, QB Miller Moss.
Panthers: TE Ja’Tavion Sanders, WR John Metchie, QB Haynes King, S Zakee Wheatley, OT Albert Reese, LB Patrick Jones, DT Cam Jackson
Buccaneers at Bengals
Buccaneers: DL DeMonte Capehart, CB Ayden Garnes, WR Jalen McMillan, G Billy Schrauth, DL Elijah Simmons, OT Justin Skule, RB Sean Tucker
Bengals: WR Ke’Shawn Williams, CB Josh Newton, OT Myles Hinton, C Connor Lew, TE Jack Endries, DT Landon Robinson, DE Shemar Stewart
Saints at Lions
Saints: TE Oscar Delp, RB Alvin Kamara, OT Mason Murphy, DE Cam Jordan, DT John Ridgeway, DT Khristian Boyd, QB Zach Wilson
Lions: CB Christian Izien, LB Jimmy Rolder, DE Ahmed Hassanein, CB Ennis Rakestraw, DL Mekhi Wingo
Bills at Texans
Bills: RB Ty Johnson, WR Skyler Bell, OT Jude Bowry, G Ar’maj Reed-Adams, DL T.J. Sanders, LB Mike Danna, S Jalon Kilgore
Texans: OL Febechi Nwaiwu, CB Collin Wright, LB Aiden Fisher, OL Nate Thomas, DL Jaden Crumedy, TE Brevin Jordan
Ravens at Colts
Ravens: QB Joe Fagnano, WR Devontez Walker, WR Elijah Sarratt, G Emery Jones, CB Chandler Rivers, DT Nnamdi Madubuike, LB Teddye Buchanan
Colts: LB Austin Ajiake, CB Jonathan Edwards, RB DJ Giddens, DE George Gumbs, QB Riley Leonard, G Dalton Tucker
Browns at Jaguars
Browns: QB Taylen Green, LB Justin Jefferson, CB Noah Igbinoghene, S Daniel Thomas, CB Toriano Pride, C Parker Brailsford, G Teven Jenkins
Jaguars: QB Quinn Ewers, S Jalen Huskey, DE Bryan Thomas, OL Daniel Faalele, TE Tanner Koziol, DE Wesley Williams
Jets at Titans
Jets: CB D’Angelo Ponds, RB Kene Nwangwu, K Blake Grupe, LB Trevin Wallace, LB Joseph Ossai
Titans: CB Jaylon Jones, OL Atonio Mafi, RB Nick Singleton, LB Cedric Gray, DT Jackie Marshall, OT Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, LB Owen Pappoe
