The Buffalo Bills did exactly what they were supposed to do with the Houston Texans on Sunday - beat them decisively.
The starting offense went interception and punt on its first two drives, and then scored on seven of their next eight possessions with three touchdowns and four field goals. Red zone struggles in the first half turned into red zone touchdowns in the second half.
Meanwhile, the defense smothered a Texans offense that has basically one legitimate weapon and is struggling with a rookie quarterback.
As expected, it was a stress-free game day for Bills fans.
Josh Allen’s day didn’t begin well with his first pass being picked off, but he played well in weather conditions not conducive for passing. He did have a handful of really nice throws, which included a perfectly placed, perfect touch 37-yard deep ball to Stefon Diggs.
On another 31-yard pass to Diggs, Allen faced immediate pressure and was being chased by two Texans as he left the pocket and ran to his right. Allen threw a perfect strike to Diggs on the sideline.
I’d say it was an “oh my” play, but we’ve seen Allen make that throw so many times.
On that same drive, Allen hit Diggs on a pass over the middle while Dion Dawkins was being pushed back into him. That prevented Allen from being able to step into the throw, but it was still right on target.
On the first of two touchdown tosses to tight end Dawson Knox, Allen pump faked to his right where Diggs was, which drew a linebacker and a safety away from the middle of the field. That void made for an easy catch-and-run play for Knox for the touchdown.
Allen also used his legs and his brains on a 4th-and-1 quarterback keeper. The Bills signal caller made it look like he’d go up the middle, but instead went out to the edge, completely fooling the Texans defense and recording a 16-yard gain.
Devin Singletary and Zack Moss both ran well on the day, but Singletary did fumble the ball for the fourth time in as many games this season.
The Bills also made a change on the offensive line, as they benched Cody Ford. Daryl Williams moved from right tackle to right guard, and rookie Spencer Brown seemed just fine in his regular season debut at the right tackle spot.
The Buffalo defense closed out a dominant first month-plus of the season. Texans rookie quarterback Davis Mills was confused by the experienced group he was going against. There was no running game to help him out, and his best weapon - wide receiver Brandin Cooks - was taken out of the game by cornerback Tre'Davious White.
The defense gave up a measly 109 net yards, which included backups playing on the final two Houston possessions. The Texans' average gain was 2.6 yards. They were 1-for-9 on third down conversion attempts. Bills defenders took the ball away five times and totaled three sacks.
The unit did all of that without starting safety Jordan Poyer, starting nickel cornerback Taron Johnson and linebacker Matt Milano, who left the game after just 17 snaps with a hamstring injury.
After the surprising opening week loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, we looked at the schedule and thought the Bills would still be 3-1 going to Kansas City to face the Chiefs.
The Bills took care of business, but now they go from facing the junior varsity team to a matchup with the varsity squad.
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