The Houston Texans defense is facing considerable backlash after Sunday’s 36-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills at home. Houston led 31-30 late in the fourth quarter, but Josh Allen answered with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Palmer with 1:36 remaining. The loss was especially painful because Houston had won their previous two homes games against Buffalo.
Houston’s defensive unit entered the season with massive expectations after finishing No. 1 in the NFL in yards allowed in 2025. Defensive end Will Anderson Jr. did not hide from the performance, pointing to the big plays, missed opportunities and communications as areas that must be fixed.
“That just wasn’t our standard, that’s not who we are, that’s not who we wanna be as a defense. And we gotta go back to the drawing board and get it corrected,” Anderson said.
“It’s the league, every year’s gonna be a different year, man, and we’ve been here before. We know how it feels. But I think we did a really good job of building that bond in the off-season, that we’re gonna stick together. And that’s what the message was after this, man. Stick together, hold your heads up high, man. It’s just the first one under our belt,” Anderson noted when asked about maintaining team cohesion.
Buffalo simply punished Houston whenever the Texans left the door open. Allen finished with 334 passing yards and four total touchdowns, while Dalton Kincaid and DJ Moore produced big plays.
Texans’ Offense Gives Them a Reason to Believe
The biggest positive from Sunday was Houston’s offense, which scored 31 points and moved the ball consistently against a Buffalo team with legitimate AFC championship expectations. C.J. Stroud finished 26-of-38 for 274 yards and two touchdowns, while Nico Collins led the receiving corps with seven catches for 75 yards and a score.
David Montgomery already looks like a valuable addition. On Sunday, Montgomery rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns while adding a receiving score. His three-touchdown performance gave Houston exactly what it wanted from the veteran back.
Stroud still had one major blemish. He lost two fumbles on strip-sacks by Greg Rousseau, including a turnover that ended Houston’s comeback attempt. That makes the loss tougher because the quarterback had otherwise played well enough to keep the Texans in position to win.
They now have a full week of preparation before they host the Bengals on September 20. Anderson said the defense needs to learn from the loss and move forward, while the offense can build on its Week 1 performance.
