Josh Allen threw a late touchdown pass and then made a point of congratulating new head coach Joe Brady after the Buffalo Bills held off the Houston Texans 36-31 in a wild season opener Sunday.
Allen completed 20 of 29 passes for 334 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran six times for 23 yards and two more scores.
The win gave Brady his first victory as an NFL head coach. The Bills promoted him from offensive coordinator after firing Sean McDermott following a playoff loss to the Denver Broncos.
It also snapped a long losing streak in Houston. The Bills had not won there since 2006.Allen made sure to mention Brady when he spoke with reporters after the game.
“It feels good to start the season off right,” Allen said. “Obviously, coach Joe getting his first win as an NFL coach, takes a lot of time, lot of effort to get in a position to do that. I’m really happy for him, he called a great game.”
He also took a light shot at the venue that had given him so much trouble.
“We do like Reliant Stadium. Woo!” Allen said.
Allen had been 0-4 as a starter in Houston before Sunday. The Bills as a team had dropped six straight games in the city.
Buffalo took the lead for good when Allen hit Joshua Palmer on a 34-yard touchdown pass with 1:36 left. The two-point try failed, leaving the score 36-31.
Houston still had a chance. The Texans reached first-and-goal at the Buffalo 9-yard line with 25 seconds remaining.
Deone Walker sacked C.J. Stroud for a nine-yard loss. After an incompletion, Greg Rousseau stripped Stroud and Terrel Bernard recovered the fumble with nine seconds left to seal it.
New receiver DJ Moore, acquired in an offseason trade from Chicago, caught five passes for 100 yards and a 43-yard touchdown. He also drew a pass-interference penalty in the end zone that set up one of Allen’s short scoring runs.
Tight end Dalton Kincaid hauled in five catches for 130 yards. James Cook added 57 rushing yards on 13 carries.
Allen scored on a 21-yard scramble and a one-yard plunge during a 21-point second quarter for Buffalo. He later led a seven-play, 96-yard drive for the winner.
David Montgomery scored three times for Houston — two rushing touchdowns and one receiving. Stroud finished 26 of 38 for 274 yards and two touchdowns but lost two fumbles.
The game had nine lead changes. Buffalo piled up 409 total yards. Houston gained 381.
Allen now owns 26 fourth-quarter or overtime game-winning drives since he entered the league in 2018, the most of any quarterback in that span. He also recorded his ninth career game with two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns, five more than any other player in NFL history.
The 36 points were the most the Texans defense had allowed since December 2023. Tyler Bass kicked three field goals for Buffalo, including a 33-yarder that briefly put the Bills ahead 30-28 in the fourth quarter.
Brady, 36, called the offensive plays while also handling head-coaching duties for the first time in a regular-season game. The Bills added Moore to give Allen another deep threat, and the pairing paid off immediately.
Buffalo’s defense bent but made the stops that mattered most. Rousseau finished with two sacks. The late turnover gave Brady a memorable first win and gave Allen something he had never had before in Houston.
The Bills improved to 1-0. The Texans dropped to 0-1.
