ORCHARD PARK - The Bills are heading into Sunday’s season opener with a clear objective on defense: make the Texans prove they can run the ball.
That’s not a revolutionary idea, of course. Joe Brady pointed out the other day that football has always rewarded the teams that can stop the run first, and that basic truth still holds now. The Bills are about to get their first real read on whether they’ve actually fixed one of last season’s biggest problems, and the timing is ideal because Houston brings a capable backfield and an offensive line that still has questions hanging over it.
Houston will lean on a solid 1-2 punch with second-year back Woody Marks and David Montgomery, the former Bears and Lions runner the Texans picked up in a March trade. Marks already showed what he can do against Buffalo last year, rushing for 74 yards in the Texans’ 23-19 win.
He followed that with a productive rookie year overall, piling up 703 rushing yards and another 129 in two playoff games. Montgomery brings a much longer track record, including two 1,000-yard seasons, and over three years in Detroit he averaged 4.5 yards per carry while scoring 33 rushing touchdowns.
Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard knows what’s coming.
“They've got a few really good backs,” Bernard said. “We played Montgomery a few times, we played Woody Marks last year.
Good backs, physical, downhill, and they can make guys miss when they need to. So it'll be a challenge for us, I think.
That's part of our preparation, understanding who we're going against and what they're good at and what we need to come with on Sunday.”
The Bills have every reason to treat this as a measuring-stick game. New defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard made run defense a priority, and for good reason: Buffalo was flat-out poor against the run in 2025. The Bills finished 28th in the league in rushing yards allowed per game at 136.2, 30th in yards per carry at 5.1, and 31st in runs of 10 yards or more with 65.
There were real personnel issues behind that slide. Ed Oliver missed most of the season, and the Bills were forced to piece things together inside with rookies Deone Walker and TJ Sanders, an aging DaQuan Jones, and little help from Jordan Phillips, Larry Ogunjobi, Phidarian Mathis and Zion Logue.
This year looks different. Oliver is back, Bernard is back, Michael Hoecht is back, Walker appears ready to build on a promising rookie season, and the Bills added Bradley Chubb and Greg Gaines, both familiar with Leonhard’s odd-man front.
Gaines said that look changes the math for an offense.
“It just makes blocking schemes a little more challenging,” Gaines said of the odd-man front, a scheme he played in both Los Angeles and Tampa Bay. “They have to block one extra big guy, so it makes it a little easier to get linebackers free and keep the line of scrimmage controlled.”
Houston coach DeMeco Ryans is well aware Buffalo’s defense is not the same unit he’s seen before, and he expects Leonhard to bring plenty of variation.
Speaking specifically of Oliver, Ryans said, “Ed's a really disruptive player. He can wreck a game by playing violent in the backfield, making plays, sideline-to-sideline.
He's been a good player for a long time. He’s a guy we have to put a hat on every single time.”
On the larger picture, Ryans called this a new look for Buffalo and noted the variety Leonhard can bring.
“This is a new Buffalo Bills team, it's not the team we played the past couple years,” Ryans said. “New head coach, new coordinators in all three phases.
What Jim brings, they're going to be a more multiple front so you'll see more five-down fronts than they've had in the past. They're going to put their base defense out there, he's going to try to mix it up, try to confuse the quarterback with some disguises, bring in different pressures, drop in the outside linebackers and coverage.
“We have to be on it from a preparation standpoint because right now, for his track record, it's his first game calling it with the Bills. He has everything at his disposal when it comes to trying to confuse the quarterback.
He's been coaching for a while. He's not a newbie, he knows what he’s doing, knows how to try to get the offenses playing off key a little bit.”
That matters because the Bills’ offense may not have a lot of room for error against Houston’s defense. Brady said Buffalo will likely have a tough time getting past 20 points, which makes it even more important for the defense to create more possessions for Josh Allen by forcing Houston into long-yardage situations and taking away sustained drives.
That challenge may be easier said than done, but the matchup lines up well for Buffalo. The Texans’ offensive line was ranked 27th by Pro Football Focus last season, and even after changes, PFF still has them in that same spot heading into 2026. Last year, Houston finished last in run block win rate at 68.4% and 30th in pass block win rate at 55.5%.
The Texans could start rookie Keylan Rutledge at left guard after he outperformed free agent addition and former Bills draft pick Wyatt Teller during camp. Second-year left tackle Aireontae Ersery is promising but still inexperienced, and with Braden Smith on injured reserve, Houston is turning to 33-year-old Trent Brown at right tackle. Brown has played only about 1,200 regular-season snaps over the last three years combined with the Patriots, Bengals and Texans.
Brady said Buffalo’s staff is ready for whatever Houston shows up with.
“Regardless of how it kind of looks compared to last year, we’re a completely different team and the scheme will be different, just like they are going to be completely different,” Brady said. “I know it will be a test for us, but I have the confidence in Jim and the staff to put together a plan for whatever is needed that week.”
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