Not much had gone right for the Buffalo Bills when playing at the Houston Texans over the last twenty years. Whether it was NRG Stadium or Reliant Stadium, the Bills had a Houston problem, as they had lost six straight decisions in Houston. I fact, Buffalo had only won twice—once in the Texans’ inaugural season in 2002 and then again in 2006—when playing the Texans in their home stadium.
So it was especially encouraging to see the Bills emerge with a 36-31 win yesterday to open the 2026 season, slaying some demons in a house of horrors for the franchise throughout the 24-year tenure of the Houston football club. Plenty of things went Buffalo’s way on Sunday, including two offensive fumbles that were recovered by the Bills and a Josh Allen fourth-quarter chuck that Kamari Lassiter dropped in the end zone just one play before the game-winning touchdown pass. Those lucky instances are things that right, but there were plenty of things in Buffalo’s control that went right for the team, as well.
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One of the biggest issues the Bills had in their previous losses to the Houston was with protection—namely, they couldn’t keep Allen upright. In last year’s 23-19 loss at Houston, Allen took a career-high eight sacks. While some of those sacks were on him for holding the ball too long, there were too many instances where a four-man Houston rush easily overwhelmed a five-man Buffalo protection scheme. When that five-man look still didn’t work, the Bills offered little in the way of changing their plan throughout the contest.
HOUSTON, TEXAS – SEPTEMBER 13: Josh Palmer #5 of the Buffalo Bills celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter of the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on September 13, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images) | Getty Images
On Sunday, though, the protection scheme looked much different. Buffalo still stuck with some five-man looks, but they varied their protections to keep the Houston edge rushers guessing. Sometimes, they doubled Danielle Hunter and used a tight end to chip Will Anderson. Other times, they did the opposite. They even used wideouts to chip, which we saw work to success on the game’s final play.
It was DJ Moore who chipped Hunter on the game’s final play, helping the keep Spencer Brown in a good position to keep Allen upright. That chip from Moore led to a delayed release into his route, which safety Calen Bullock definitely saw as he cheated just a bit to Moore’s side. That gave Allen the window to chuck a “horseshoe,” as he called it postgame, that Joshua Palmer caught for a game-winning 34-yard score.
Color analyst Ross Tucker said multiple times on the broadcast that teams need to “think players, not plays” in big situations. With Houston likely following that mantra by cheating towards Moore, it gave the Bills and Josh Allen an opening to hit an unlikely hero in Palmer across the field. Had the Bills and their offensive coaching staff not made a conscious decision to change their protection scheme entering this game, giving their offensive linemen help against a ferocious Texans pass rush, that split-second might have been the difference in an incomplete pass or worse. And what we saw was the winning score.
Credit to head coach Joe Brady, offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr., and offensive line coach Pat Meyer for changing their approach in Sunday’s win.
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