Josh Allen connects with Joshua Palmer for late TD as Bills beat Texans 36-31
The Buffalo Bills rallied for a 36-31 road victory over the Houston Texans Sunday when Josh Allen hit Joshua Palmer for a 34-yard touchdown with 1:36 left. The two-point attempt failed, leaving the Bills with a five-point margin. The result moved Buffalo to 1-0 while the Texans dropped to 0-1.
Tyler Bass opened the scoring with a 46-yard field goal, and Houston answered late in the first quarter on a 1-yard David Montgomery run. The second quarter featured multiple lead changes as Allen scored on a 21-yard rushing touchdown and Montgomery responded with an 18-yard run. Allen later scored from 1 yard and connected on a 43-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Moore before C.J. Stroud found Nico Collins for a 12-yard touchdown to make it 24-21 at intermission.
Tyler Bass added a 34-yard field goal in the third quarter to make it 27-21. In the fourth quarter C.J. Stroud threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Montgomery to put Houston ahead 28-27 and Bass responded with a 33-yard field goal to give Buffalo a 30-28 lead. Ka’imi Fairbairn booted a 58-yard field goal to put the Texans up 31-30 with 6:44 remaining. Buffalo’s final drive covered 96 yards in seven plays and culminated with Allen’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Palmer.
Special teams played a significant role as both kickers produced multiple long field goals and the game featured scoring by both rushing and passing plays. Neither defense produced a decisive stop in the final minutes. The late drive highlighted Buffalo’s ability to move the ball in crunch time and the tight margins that decided the season opener. Both teams showed offensive firepower throughout the contest.
NFL Sports Blog Take
Buffalo displayed resilience by engineering a nearly full-field game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter, a sign of the offense’s capacity to perform under pressure. Houston mounted several responses and took the lead in the fourth, but the final sequence left both teams with clear areas to tighten up on defense and situational execution. Playmakers were on display—Allen with rushing and passing scores, C.J. Stroud with timely touchdown passes and David Montgomery contributing both on the ground and through the air—setting the stage for adjustments heading into Week 2.