Josh Allen is heading back to a place that has given him more trouble than answers.
When the Buffalo Bills open the 2026 season Sunday at Reliant Stadium against the Houston Texans, it comes with all the usual reset-button language: new season, new coaching staff, new roster, clean record. But for Allen, Houston carries its own stubborn little history. He has never won there.
That fact hangs over the matchup because the track record is hard to ignore. Allen has faced the Texans four times in the regular season and come away with one win, and that victory came in Buffalo. In Houston, the story has gone the other way.
The first trip came on Oct. 14, 2018, when Allen was still a rookie trying to survive NFL defenses. He finished 10 of 17 for 84 yards before leaving late in the third quarter with an injured throwing elbow.
Nathan Peterman stepped in and briefly gave Buffalo life, throwing a touchdown pass to Zay Jones for a fourth-quarter lead. But with the game tied at 13 and under two minutes left, Peterman was picked off for a touchdown.
Houston won, 20-13.
Allen’s only regular-season win over the Texans arrived three years later, but not in Houston. The Texans came to Buffalo in 2021, and the Bills rolled, 40-0.
Allen went 20 of 30 for 248 yards and two touchdowns and added 41 rushing yards. That’s still his lone victory in the series.
The most talked-about meeting came in 2024, and it had plenty of baggage attached to it. Stefon Diggs was in Houston after Buffalo traded him there during the offseason, turning the game into an instant reunion story once the schedule came out.
Diggs against Buffalo. Allen against Diggs.
The questions about the breakup followed both men into NRG Stadium.
Diggs caught six passes for 82 yards. Allen had one of the toughest stat lines of his career, completing just 9 of 30 passes for 131 yards and a career-low 30% completion rate.
Houston essentially erased the deep ball, with Allen connecting on only one of 15 attempts when he threw 10 or more yards downfield. Buffalo still clawed back from a 20-3 deficit and tied the game in the fourth quarter, but Ka’imi Fairbairn ended it with a 59-yard field goal at the buzzer.
Texans 23. Bills 20.
A year later, the sideshow was gone. Diggs was gone, too.
Houston was also without C.J. Stroud, leaving Davis Mills to start.
Allen’s numbers looked much cleaner: 24 of 34 for 253 yards. James Cook ran for 116 yards and a 45-yard touchdown, and Khalil Shakir caught eight passes for 110 yards.
Buffalo outgained Houston 326-261, ran 10 more plays and held the ball for 32:22 to Houston’s 27:38.
None of that mattered as much as the turnovers and sacks. Houston got to Allen eight times.
Calen Bullock picked him off twice and forced a fumble. Buffalo turned it over three times and Houston didn’t give it away once.
Texans 23. Bills 19.
There’s also the playoff game that sits outside the regular-season ledger but still lives in the memory bank. On Jan.
4, 2020, Allen made his first NFL postseason start in Houston and spent most of the afternoon looking like he might turn it into his first playoff win. Buffalo led 13-0 at halftime and stretched the advantage to 16-0 in the third quarter.
Allen even caught a touchdown pass.
Then Houston flipped it. The Texans erased the 16-point deficit, grabbed a 19-16 lead, and forced overtime when Buffalo kicked a field goal late in regulation.
Allen finished with 264 passing yards and 92 rushing yards, but he also completed just over 52% of his throws, took three sacks and posted a 69.5 passer rating. Deshaun Watson, not Allen, delivered the winning drive in overtime.
Texans 22, Bills 19.
So the file on Allen in Houston is pretty simple: four regular-season games, three losses, and no win in that building. The quarterback who first walked into that stadium as a 22-year-old rookie is a very different player now.
He’s been an MVP. He’s won division titles and playoff games.
He’s become the franchise quarterback Buffalo needed.
But Houston is still waiting on the one thing he hasn’t done there.
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Drake Maye Just Reinforced Josh Allens Grip On The AFC East
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Josh Allen Faces A Week 1 Problem Bills Fans Know Too Well
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Houstons pass rush has been a major reason why, with All-Pro edge players Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter helping turn Allens mobility into less of a weapon than usual. Buffalo is hoping a new wrinkle in the receiving room can help change the equation, especially against a defense that likes to challenge quarterbacks with man coverage. [Read more 🡒]