As the Buffalo Bills prepare to visit the Houston Texans on Sunday, the offseason grind around the team is finally coming to a close. It’s been a busy stretch in Buffalo: coaches fired, coaches hired, awkward press conferences, free agency, the draft, and a new stadium set to open.
Through all of that movement, one addition has not gotten nearly enough attention, at least in my view: Bradley Chubb.
DJ Moore has drawn plenty of the buzz around the Bills’ new faces, and that makes sense. Buffalo needed a bigger swing at receiver, and sending a second-round pick to the Bears addressed a major need.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson has also been a talking point, especially with a chance to get some revenge against one of his former teams.
But Chubb might be the most important newcomer of the bunch.
The former first-round pick signed a three-year, $43.5 million deal with Buffalo this offseason, making him the team’s biggest roster addition. He was also named a captain earlier this week, which says plenty about the leadership he brought into the locker room right away. And still, he has mostly slipped under the radar.
Part of that may just be the way Bills fans have been burned before. A.J.
Epenesa, Von Miller, and Joey Bosa, among others, have all carried varying levels of expectation without fully meeting them. So now Chubb arrives as the immediate starter opposite Gregory Rousseau with fewer assumptions attached to him than you might expect.
That’s why he feels like the forgotten addition.
Maybe the conversation will catch up once the games start. For now, Chubb is the player I keep coming back to when thinking about how this defense could look under Jim Leonhard.
If he can handle that spot opposite Rousseau, with Michael Hoecht and T.J. Parker also in the mix, the Bills’ defensive end group has a chance to make an early-season impact.
In Other News...
Texans Frustration With Josh Allen Could Get Even Worse
Josh Allen gave Houston plenty to handle in the Bills 2026 season opener, piling up three touchdowns in the first half and keeping Buffalo in control from the jump. The Texans also found themselves on the wrong end of one of the games most frustrating moments when defensive tackle Mario Edwards was flagged for roughing the passer after making illegal contact with Allen, a penalty that turned into a 15-yard walk-off and an automatic first down for Buffalo.
For a Houston defense already trying to find answers against one of the leagues toughest quarterbacks, the call only added to the sting. It also comes against the backdrop of the NFLs 2026 roughing-the-passer rules and the fines tied to those hits, which means the Texans may have to be even more careful going forward if they want to avoid giving Allen and the Bills any more easy yards. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Allen Did His Part But Bills Have A Bigger Problem
Josh Allen gave Buffalo exactly the kind of start it needed against Houston, accounting for three first-half touchdowns and keeping the offense on schedule from the opening snaps. His pair of rushing scores also moved him into a tie with Frank Gore and Ottis Anderson for 20th all-time in NFL rushing touchdowns, a reminder of how much Allen continues to do as both a passer and a runner. He finished the half 8 of 11 for 163 yards, and the Bills went into the break with a 24-21 edge.
The problem for Buffalo was on the other side of the ball, where the defense let Houston stack up 21 first-half points and forced the Bills into a shootout they probably did not want. Jim Leonhard has work to do in the second half to settle things down, because Allen can keep bailing out this offense only for so long. [Read more 🡒]
Stefon Diggs Is Taking Heat For Another Costly Mistake
Stefon Diggs finally found the end zone for Washington on a 10-yard pass from Jayden Daniels against the Eagles, a moment that should have been a clean early highlight in his new setting. Instead, the celebration turned into a problem when Diggs drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for hugging the goalpost, a move the NFL has banned since 2014.
The flag changed the math for Washington immediately, pushing the Commanders into an extra-point try instead of a 2-point attempt in a tight game. Philadelphia went on to win 24-22, leaving Diggs with a first touchdown that came with an expensive reminder about how little room there is for error in a close finish. [Read more 🡒]