Bills QB Josh Allen seeks to end 0-4 skid in Houston as Joe Brady debuts as Buffalo head coach

HOUSTON (AP) — Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills travel to Houston to Sunday to open their season against the Texans with the quarterback looking to finally break through in a place that has never been good to him.

It’s a game between two playoff teams from last season. Many expect both to be among the top teams in the AFC again this year.

Allen is 0-4 in games at Houston, including a wild-card playoff loss in 2020 and his most recent performance in the city may have been his worst.

Playing without quarterback C.J. Stroud, Houston got a 23-19 win last November with a suffocating defensive performance. The Texans tied a franchise record by sacking Allen a career-high eight times with 4½ coming from Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter. Calen Bullock forced three turnovers, picking off Allen twice, with the last one sealing the victory with 24 seconds left.

“Those guys are gonna be ready to play,” Allen said. “They got after us last year, there’s no secret about it.”

Allen is 67 of 127 for 722 yards with a touchdown, two interceptions and a lost fumble in four games at Houston. His struggles include a career-worst 30% completion rate in a 23-20 loss in 2024 .

Despite that history, players and coaches from both teams agree that history doesn’t have any bearing on this week’s game. Sunday will be the head coaching debut for Buffalo's Joe Brady, who was promoted from offensive coordinator after Sean McDermott was fired after nine seasons.

“It’s year one for us and there’s nothing that we’re going into this year with the mindset of, oh man, this is what’s happened in the past year, right,” Brady said. “Like a lot of these guys haven’t even been here, so I don’t think it’s anything.”

It’s a message that Houston coach DeMeco Ryans is also preaching to his team this week.

“We can’t hang our hat on past success,” he said. “Past success is not going to automatically guarantee you future success. We have to go out and we have to earn it. That’s one thing that Josh and his offense is going to make you do.”

As the Texans enter their 25th season as the only team to have never reached a conference championship game, they know that Sunday’s game will be their first test if they hope to end that drought.

“I’m feeling like Sunday is going to be that AFC championship-type feel,” Anderson said.

Buffalo (13-6) at Houston (13-6)

When/where to watch: Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, CBS.

Latest odds: Bills by 1½.

Last meeting: Texans beat Bills 23-19 on Nov. 20, 2025 in Houston.

Series record: Texans lead 8-5.

After last season's eight-sack debacle for the Bills, all eyes will be on whether the offensive line can protect Allen against Houston’s fearsome pass rush. Allen shouldered the blame for some of those hits in that game saying he took some “bad sacks” and could have played better. Brady said everyone knows that what happened last year wasn’t acceptable and they’re focused on doing better this time around.

“I hope all of us have learned from that and we know they are going to get everything and more from them as well,” he said.

Houston returns both Anderson and Hunter after the duo combined for 27 sacks last season. And back with the Texans this season is Jadeveon Clowney , the top overall pick by Houston in 2014, who had 8½ sacks for the Cowboys last season.

— The Bills have won 11 or more games in each of the past six seasons, joining New England (2010-19), Indianapolis (2003-09), Kansas City (2018-24) and Dallas (1976-81) as the only other teams to do so in the Super Bowl era.

— The Texans opened last season 0-3 before bouncing back to make the playoffs for a third straight season.

— Last season, the Bills became the NFL’s first team since the 1985 Chicago Bears to lead the league in carries (547), yards rushing (2,714) and rushing touchdowns (30).

— Last season, the Texans led the NFL in yards allowed (277.2), were second to the Seahawks in points allowed (17.4) and their plus-17 turnover differential ranked second.

— Allen has a 40-7 record in regular-season starts when not committing a turnover, and is 48-32 when throwing an interception or losing a fumble.

— Houston traded for David Montgomery this offseason after ranking 22nd in the NFL by averaging 108.9 yards rushing last season. Montgomery had 158 carries for 716 yards and eight touchdowns for the Lions in 2025.

— The Bills added WR DJ Moore in a trade with Chicago in March. Moore, who has had four seasons with at least 1,100 yards receiving, had a career-low 682 yards receiving last season.

AP Sports Writer John Wawrow contributed to this report.

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