Josh Allen drove the Bills to the Texans’ 15-yard line on their opening possession. Then, out of the Pistol, Allen faked a pitch to Frank Gore, flipped the ball to wide receiver John Ross and ran a wheel route down the left sideline. Securing the pass from Ross at the 5-yard line, Allen hurdled safety Jahleel Addae at the 1 and summersaulted over the pylon into the end zone.
Jared Goff might be the latest quarterback to catch a touchdown pass but Allen is in that club, too. It actually happened the last time Allen and the Bills visited NRG Stadium. This week, Buffalo (3-1) makes its first trip to Houston (3-1) since the Bills lost in overtime that day, 22-19, in the 2019 AFC Wild Card playoffs.
This Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS) might preview another AFC playoff game. While Houston came back to beat Jacksonville last week, Buffalo sustained its first loss, 35-10 at Baltimore. It wasn’t just Allen’s first regular-season loss in 308 days, it was also the Bills’ largest margin of defeat in an Allen start since a 41-15 setback against the Colts in 2021.
But following that 2021 loss to Indianapolis, as he usually does, Allen rebounded nicely. A week later he led the Bills to a 31-6 triumph at New Orleans – a pivotal win during a season that ended with a rule-changing 42-36 overtime loss at Kansas City in the divisional playoffs.
In fact, Allen has a penchant for rebounding nicely following losses. Since Houston eliminated the Bills from the postseason in 2019, Allen has won 14 of his 17 starts immediately after a loss. He’s 22-7 overall in his career.
Allen’s counterpart on Sunday, C.J. Stroud, also bounced back last week from a forgettable trip to Minnesota in Week 3, a 34-7 loss. While Stroud appears one step closer to having Tank Dell (ribs) back in the lineup, he’s still awaiting a return to practice for three significant teammates: running backs Joe Mixon (ankle) and Dameon Pierce (hamstring) and tackle Laremy Tunsil (ankle).
It’s also a revenge game for Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who spent 2020-23 in Buffalo, reaching 100 receptions, 1,100 yards and eight touchdowns in each of those four seasons. In what some have called a messy divorce, Diggs joined the Texans in a trade this past offseason.
In his first season without Diggs, Allen so far ranks second in the NFL with a 116.5 passer rating. Diggs, meanwhile, has 25 catches for 233 yards and two touchdowns in his first season with Houston.