Horns Up for Dalton Kincaid in Buffalo Bills’ 36-31 win over the Houston Texans

What a way for the Buffalo Bills to open up the 2026 NFL season! Winning a back-and-forth affair against the Houston Texans —in Houston, no less—is a big accomplishment for a Buffalo squad looking to forge a new identity under first-year head coach Joe Brady. The Bills were able to lock in a victory for their new head coach, winning 36-31 for their first win at (now) Reliant Stadium since J.P. Losman led the team to a win back in 2006.

It wasn't all roses, though, and even if it were, Bret Michaels told us long ago that every rose does have its thorn. There were plenty of players deserving of their flowers, but there are definitely some areas for improvement after Week 1.

Our Horns Up and Horns Down are below. Let us know your thoughts about who and/or what stood out, in the comment section below! _____________________________________________________________________________

The newest addition to the Bills' offense was as-advertised today, making big plays in tight windows to give Buffalo's offense big yardage. Moore wasn't targeted until Buffalo's third possession, but he had a huge second quarter. He made his first grab on a deep post off a play-action pass, and he nearly caught his first touchdown later in the quarter on a deep ball from quarterback Josh Allen . However, safety Calen Bullock tackled Moore while the ball was in flight, and given that the foul occurred in the end zone, it gave the Bills a first down at the one-yard line. Moore eventually did catch his first touchdown later in the quarter, as Houston safety Reed Blankenship 's near-interception went into Moore's hands instead. Some fancy footwork kept him in bounds, and there was nobody around him to prevent him from finishing the 43-yard score. Moore caught three passes for 76 yards and that touchdown in the second quarter alone en route to a five-catch day for 100 yards and the aforementioned touchdown. Moore also had a team-high eight targets on the afternoon.

Buffalo's quarterback was exceptional this week. He scored two rushing touchdowns in the first half—one was a 21-yard scramble where he rolled right, found a lane, and dodged multiple defenders inside the five on his way to paydirt. The second was quarterback sneak where tight end Dawson Knox played the role of the schnowplow. Allen also threw the aforementioned touchdown pass to DJ Moore. The game plan featured some quick-hitters, but the protection pla up front helped keep Allen out of harms way for most of the afternoon. Buffalo chipped Houston's edge rushers with different players, and their varied personnel packages gave Allen clean looks against a top-line defense. Overall, it was the best day Allen's had in his career in Houston. He was efficient, he took checkdowns, he found big plays with his arm and with his legs, and he gave the Bills' defense a chance to win it in the end, and they obliged him. Allen completed 20-of-29 passes for 334 yards and two touchdowns, adding six carries for 23 yards and two more scores on the ground.

Buffalo's new-look secondary faced a strong test in trying to stop wide receiver Nico Collins , and they didn't do a particularly great job at it. Collins killed the Bills throughout the first half, catching all three of his targets for 46 yards and a score. Additionally, the Bills were called for far too many penalties in the secondary.

Safety Damar Hamlin and rookie cornerback Davison Igbinosun were each called for a hold, and cornerback Christian Benford was called for pass interference. Hamlin's penalty erased a stop on 3rd & 9 that immediately led to a touchdown by running back David Montgomery . Later, Benford's penalty gave the Texans great field position at the end of the first half to set up a touchdown throw to Collins.

Granted, they mostly stepped up when they needed to on the final drive of the game, but there were too many instances of players losing their assignment. There are going to be growing pains on defense with a new system implemented by defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard , but the early returns were not great.

There were some encouraging early signs that the Bills would be able to bottle David Montgomery, but unfortunately, the much-maligned Houston offensive line was able to clear space consistently on the ground. Montgomery has always been tough to get on the ground, and Buffalo's stop unit had a tough time tackling today. Montgomery had touchdown runs of one yard and 18 yards in the first half, as he carried 13 times for 52 yards in the half. Woody Marks acted as a solid change-of-pace, as well. Montgomery had 60 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and he also added three catches for 19 yards and a receiving touchdown to his line. Marks had 36 rushing yards on eight carries, and while Houston averaged just 3.8 yards per rush on the day, it felt like they were able to gain the yards they needed in multiple clutch situations.

Buffalo was called for just too many flags on the afternoon. This has been a pattern so far this year, as the Bills were heavily penalized in the preseason, as well. A holding penalty on Sam Franklin Jr. wiped out a great kickoff return by Ray Davis at the end of the first half; Franklin Jr. was also whistled for a chop block early in the second half that negated a solid punt return from Greg Dortch . Dion Dawkins was whistled for holding, as was Alec Anderson , and the Bills even managed to commit ineligible man downfield penalties on consecutive plays in the first half. There were quite a few penalties in the game, as the teams combined for 17 flags and 191 penalty yards, so maybe there's an argument that second-year referee Alex Moore and his crew were a bit flag-happy. The fact remains, though, that Buffalo needs to be cleaner in its operations moving forward.

Buffalo's top tight end made some big plays for his quarterback in scramble-drill action. He hauled in a 38-yard pass in spectacular fashion right before the two-minute warning in the first half. Then, he made his second grab of the day on a third-quarter scoring drive, sticking with Allen on a rollout to find a nine-yard gain between two Texans defenders. He found space for big gains on a second field goal drive in the second half, and he also made the key reception off a play-action pass to set up Joshua Palmer 's go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. Overall, Kincaid notched five catches on six targets for 130 yards in what was an incredible first game of the 2026 season for him.

The Bills forced two turnovers, and both of them came on strip-sacks of C.J. Stroud from Groot. On Houston's first possession of the game, Rousseau came around the edge and took the ball from Stroud, forcing a fumble that Ed Oliver (who had a good game himself) recovered. On Houston's final possession, Rousseau strip-sacked Stroud once again, bringing a third-down play to an end when linebacker Terrel Bernard , who also had a game-high 12 tackles on the afternoon, recovered it. Rousseau had four tackles and five quarterback hits to go with his two strip-sacks, but perhaps the most impressive play he made all afternoon came in coverage against tight end Dalton Schultz . The big tight end ran an angle route off the edge, and Rousseau, who has converted to a stand-up outside linebacker after having played defensive end for his whole career, not only stuck with Schultz, but he laid out and broke up the pass.

Not to be outdone, the big fella in the middle was a massive headache all afternoon. Walker commanded constant double-teams, and he often shed them by flinging very large men off of him in the way that most of us mere mortals might flick a fly off our arm. Walker had six tackles, two tackles for loss, and one tremendously important sack on the play immediately prior to Rousseau's game-ending strip-sack on the final drive of the game. One of the major defensive bright spots that I saw involved the four-man rush plan from Buffalo, as the big boys up front really did a nice job holding their lanes and using each other on stunts and games. That's a positive to build on in what was otherwise a less-than-stellar defensive effort today.

Welcome back, No. 16! Bass made all of his kicks, including three field goals and three extra points. His long on the day came from 46 yards, but the most impressive kick he had was his final field goal. Reid Ferguson 's snap was high, and rookie punter Tommy Doman Jr. did a great job corraling it and putting the ball down. That was the kind of thing that could have easily thrown off the operation, but Bass stayed locked in and he nailed the kick to give the Bills a 30-28 lead in the fourth quarter. He won't be perfect all seaosn, but it was nice to see him come out and have a perfect start to his 2026 season after missing all of 2025.

Who do you want to talk about, folks? The floor is yours after a big-time win to open the 2026 season. Go Bills!