Houston, Texas (WGR) - The Buffalo Bills will travel to Houston to take on the Texans in the opening game of the 2026 season for both teams. Here are my three keys to the game, plus notes and stats:
KEYS
- Protect Josh Allen
The last time these two teams met, Bills quarterback Josh Allen was sacked eight times, the most of any single game throughout his 143 game career, counting the playoffs. Making sure nothing close to that happens on Sunday has to be atop the Bills to-do list in this contest. The Texans have one of the best pass-rushes in the NFL with terrific personnel up front. If the Bills don’t protect Allen better than last year, it’s going to be a lot tougher to do anything on offense. If they can slow down and even stop the Texans from getting after him, it will open up a lot more of the game plan.
- Get DJ Moore involved
One of the reasons Allen was sacked so much last year was that he didn’t have receivers getting open quick enough, or often enough, against a tremendous Houston secondary. The previous year was even worse in that regard. Combined over those two contests, Allen is 33-for-64 (just 51.6%) with a pair of interceptions, an average of 189.5 yards per game, just one touchdown pass, and nine times sacked. Enter DJ Moore. The Bills biggest offensive offseason acquisition was brought in to give Allen more options, and quicker. Head coach and offensive play-caller Joe Brady will no doubt want to get Moore involved early and often. If the Allen-to-Moore connection can get going, it will go a long way to flipping the Bills recent script in Houston.
- Be creative on defense
This will be Jim Leonhard’s first-ever NFL game as a defensive coordinator and play-caller. The Texans have no film on what his defense will look like, other than anything he did while at Wisconsin from 2017-2022. So it’s a chance for Leonhard to get creative and show the Texans offense looks and schemes they won’t be expecting, and mixing things up to keep them off-balance. Houston will most likely show the Bills defense different looks early in the game to have Leonhard show his hand, so the first few series are going to need key for Leonhard and the Bills to react to that, and dictate their own looks, as well.
NOTES AND STATS
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