Josh Allen Leads Bills Past Texans In 2026 NFL Kickoff

It's hard to believe it's been 217 days since the last time a regular-season or playoff game was played, but the 2026-27 NFL season kicked off on Sunday, September 13, 2026, and the hometown Buffalo Bills took to the road and traveled to Houston, Texas, to face the Texans in the season-opening game.

The Bills, who have not played well against the Texans and thier might defense, had a big task ahead of them for this major matchup for week one. It was 2006 the last time Buffalo beat Houston in Texas, and the Bills stepped up in a major way and grabbed a big week one victory, beating the Texans 36-31 after some last-minute heroics from the Defense against a Houston team that was driving in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.

The Bills got on the scoreboard first thanks to a 46-yard field goal from Tyler Bass in the first quarter, giving Buffalo a quick 3-0 lead. Houston answered quickly as David Montgomery grabbed his first touchdown of the season at the end of the quarter.

The slow first quarter gave way to a high-scoring second quarter, with the two teams combining for 35 points. Josh Allen scored two of the Bills' three touchdowns using his feet and tossed a third touchdown on a 43-yard strike to DJ Moore as he pranced into the end zone.

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While both defenses struggled to keep the opposing offenses under control, it was the Bills defense that stepped up in a major way at the end of the game.

After a 36-yard laser Josh Allen tossed to Joshua Palmer with less than two minutes to go in the game, the Houston Texans were driving down the field and looked like they were poised to score. That is until Deone Walker came up with a big first-down sack on CJ Stroud. Then two plays later, Greg Rousseau sacked Stroud, forcing a fumble that Terrel Bernard pounced on expeditiously, sealing the game for the Bills.

With the big victory over Houston in week one, the Bills now get ready for the home opener game against Detroit on Thursday, September 17, 2026, at the brand new Highmark Stadium.