The Buffalo Bills are in the win column to kick off their 2026 season as they went down to Houston to beat the Texans in a surprising high-scoring game. The Bills’ offense was the strength, as they scored 36 points to help beat the Texans 36-31.
There were a lot of doubters for the Bills this week, but Buffalo proved them all wrong and kicked off the Joe Brady era with a win against a team that has had their number in recent memory.
Even though there is plenty of room for improvement for the Bills, there were also plenty of great takeaways from this game as Buffalo now turns their focus to Week 2.
Instant reactions from Bills vs. Texans close Week 1 matchup
1.) DJ Moore is the Bills' WR1 they have been missing
The connection between Josh Allen and DJ Moore didn't miss a beat today, giving the Bills major confidence moving forward. Buffalo's new WR1 finished the game with 5 catches for 100 yards and he also had a 43-yard touchdown grab to put the Bills up by ten near the end of the first half.
Moore's presence gives the Bills the No. 1 target that they have been missing since 2024, and to have this kind of performance against a great Texans defense is amazing to see.
2.) Christian Benford was a massive liability vs. Nico Collins
The Bills defense overall had a rough day, but Christian Benford had a tough matchup against Nico Collins from start to finish. Collins finished the day with 7 catches for 75 yards and a score, with Benford in coverage in most of those catches.
Benford typically doesn't have bad games, but this is one of his worst performances that we can remember. He will need to clean it up going into Thursday night against the Detroit Lions.
3.) Healthy Dalton Kincaid = dangerous
The only Bills target that was better than Moore was tight end Dalton Kincaid, who has officially shown that when he is healthy, he is a dangerous weapon for the offense. This version of Kincaid is the one that Bills fans have been waiting for.
He finished this game with 5 catches for 130 yards, which included a clutch 35-yard catch with less than 2 minutes that put the Bills in scoring position. Kincaid has dealt with a knee injury the last two seasons, but it looks like he is all healed up and ready to make a serious impact.
4.) Penalties remains huge issue for Bills
Buffalo had 10 penalites in which they gave up 85 yards to Houston. While the Texans did give up over 100 yards in penalties, the Bills had more penalties and a big thing that stands out is that four out of their five starting offensive lineman had a penalty. The only one that didn't was right tackle Spencer Brown.
Disciplinary football is not something that Buffalo has played as they have committed careless penalties, which ultimately hurts them.
5.) Dorian Williams pulled ahead of Kaleb Elarms-Orr in LB competition
The linebacker competition between Dorian Williams and Kaleb Elarms-Orr is a close one, and it has been all summer long. However, Williams definitely pulled ahead of Elarms-Orr against the Texans, as he finished second in total tackles only behind Terrel Bernard. He also had some nice run-stopping hits at or behind the line of scrimmage.
As of right now, Williams deserves to be the starter ahead of Elarms-Orr. However, it could be a week-to-week basis.
6.) Tyler Bass gets off to strong start
After missing all of last season, Tyler Bass showed that he can be reliable for the Bills. He was perfect on the day with going 3/3 on PATs and 3/3 on FG tries that included kicks from 46, 34, and 33 yards out. This is a great confidence boost for Bass going into this season to gain Bills Mafia's trust back.
7.) Bills' defense still has massive problems
It's safe to say that not a lot of people thought that Buffalo would win this game because of their offense, but here we are. While the offense managed to put up 36 points, the defense still has major issues that they have to take care of. Jim Leonhard's first game as the Bills' defensive coordinator was a rocky start.
The Texans' offense is not known to be a high-scoring unit, but they carved up Buffalo's defense all game long. Yes, they made the big plays when needed, but there were too many times where the defense gave up a third-down conversion or played undisciplined football.
8.) Josh Allen gets his first career win in Houston
For the first time since 2006, the Bills have beaten the Texans in Houston. Not only that, but it was Josh Allen’s first win in Houston, a place where he has had some of his worst performances in his career. Him getting this win is great to see, and he also thrived with 334 yards and 4 total touchdowns.
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