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.
Texans Clips
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
Nothing says “football is back” like the issuance of Sunday Splash! reports on a Saturday.
Per ESPN, the Texans and quarterback C.J. Stroud won’t get a deal done before the start of the season. Which means they’ll now wait until after the season ends to assess the situation.
The notion that there won’t be an in-season deal was already known. G.M. Nick Caserio recently said so.
The idea that there won’t be a deal before Week 1 wasn’t etched in stone, but the handwriting was written on the wall in permanent marker.
Would the Texans sign Stroud to a deal based on his performances to date? Yes. Would Stroud accept it? No.
Houston’s preferred range likely won’t get any lower based on 2026. A strong year from Stroud could push it much higher.
Even after the coming season, there may be no reason for the Texans to rush it. Stroud remains under contract through 2027. They’d be negotiating against themselves, like the Dolphins did when they gave Tua Tagovailoa what turned out to be a disastrous the-market-is-the-market deal in 2024.
Actually, the Texans could let it ride for two more years, with the franchise tag in their back pockets in the event Stroud suddenly reaches a higher level of performance.
If he was already there, the Texans wouldn’t hesitate to pay him. They did it after three seasons with cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. They did it after three seasons with linebacker Will Anderson.
They would have done it with Stroud, too. But only at the number that properly reflects his spot in a range that now extends from $20 million per year to $64 million annually.
The Texans remain committed to Stroud. They didn’t bench him at halftime of a disastrous divisional-round game against the Patriots, even though they arguably should have. They want him to become a player who forces the Texans to pay him big money.
For now, Stroud has to go out and show that he deserves it.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen has a 96-46 record as a starter in regular-season and postseason games. That’s a 67.6-percent success rate.
Against Sunday’s opponent, he’s right on the Mendoza line.
Allen holds a sluggish 1-4 career record against the Texans, and 0-4 in Houston.
The Week 1 game happens in Houston.
Most recently, Allen was sacked a career-high eight times in a 23-19 Thursday night loss in Houston. He had two interceptions and no touchdown passes in the game.
Countering his one career win against the Texans are eight playoff victories. Per NBC Sports research, that’s the most for any quarterback who did not play in a Super Bowl.
As he starts the ninth year of his career, the clock is ticking. The pressure is increasing. While the postseason narrative can’t change until January, Allen has a chance to alter his history in Houston by finally getting a win there, in his fifth try.
Texans second-round pick Kayden McDonald won’t be making his NFL debut in September.
The team announced that McDonald has been placed on injured reserve on Friday. McDonald missed the last two days of practice with an ankle injury.
With McDonald out of commission for four games, the Texans moved to bolster their defensive line options. They announced that they have signed Jaden Crumedy to the 53-man roster.
Crumedy was in training camp with the Packers, but did not make it through their final cuts. He had 15 tackles and a half-sack in eight games for the Panthers over the last two seasons.
The Bills have three players on their final injury report ahead of Sunday’s game in Houston.
Head coach Joe Brady announced that defensive lineman T.J. Sanders, running back Ty Johnson, and defensive back Jordan Hancock are all listed as questionable.
Sanders, who is listed as a starter on the team’s depth chart, missed Thursday’s practice with a knee injury, but was back on the field at the open portion of Friday’s workout.
“Something that showed up in practice. It was just a little tweak or something, but all is well,” Brady said, via the team’s website.
Johnson missed a month with a hamstring injury before returning to practice this week. Hancock is dealing with a quad injury.
A perusal of the many published predictions for the 2026 season finds a lot of support for the Bills and Texans as two of the strongest teams in the AFC.
One of them is likely to exit Week 1 with an 0-1 record, however. The two teams will meet in Houston on Sunday afternoon in a matchup that Texans defensive end Will Anderson believes will be a preview of one of the games that both teams hope to be playing in come January.
“This is an AFC Championship matchup,” Anderson said in a Wednesday press conference. “Two really good teams. We have a ton of respect for them. Josh Allen leading the way, really great offensive line. James Cook, best running back in the league. . . . The type of atmosphere that I’m feeling like it’s gonna be on Sunday is gonna be that AFC Championship-type feel.”
The Texans pass rush got the best of Allen and the Bills last November. Anderson had 2.5 sacks in that game and the Texans will be looking for something similar as they try to get an early leg up in the race for the actual AFC Championship Game.
The Texans have gone to the playoffs in each of quarterback C.J. Stroud’s three NFL seasons and they’ve won a game in each of those trips, but that hasn’t cemented Stroud as the franchise quarterback in Houston.
Stroud has not been able to match his rookie production in either of the last two seasons and he threw five interceptions in last year’s postseason. which helped keep a contract extension out of reach this offseason. The team doesn’t plan on talking about one once the season starts and that leaves Stroud in position to make his case for the kind of deal that would remove any doubt about his place in the team’s future.
That cloud overhead could impact some players in a negative way, but Stroud said he’s embracing the position he’s in as the 2026 season gets underway.
“Pressure is a privilege,” Stroud said, via DJ Bien-Amie of ESPN.com. “I’m excited. I’ve always been challenged in my career. I’ve always had to persevere through things, and I think this is something that I’m grateful for. I didn’t wake up and forget how to play football.”
The Texans are expected to have one of the best defenses in the league and that should impact how much the Texans ask Stroud to do on a weekly basis. If he can handle that charge while the Texans make another run to the playoffs, it is hard to imagine a deal won’t come together in Houston and Stroud can begin making his case against the Bills this weekend.
