'It can't get much worse': Buffalo Bills preparing for another matchup against Houston Texans

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Houston has not been kind to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.

In 2018, as a rookie, Allen was injured in Houston, and the Bills lost. It’s the only injury of Allen’s career that has caused him to miss time. The following year, Allen and the Bills went to the playoffs, only to blow a big halftime lead to the Texans and lose in overtime.

In 2024, the Bills returned to Houston for the first time since their playoff loss and took on the Texans and Stefon Diggs. They once again lost a close game. One year later, a similar scenario played out. The Bills traveled to Houston and lost, with Allen getting sacked eight times.

History has a way of repeating itself for the Bills in Houston, but the 2026 team hopes this year will be different.

“They got after us last year,” Allen said on Wednesday. “There's no secret about it, but just trying to have a good week, prepare the way that we need to prepare to go out there and execute the way that we want to execute.”

“For me personally, it can't get much worse, so I'm pretty excited to go back down there and, hopefully, walk out with both my shoulders intact,” right tackle Spencer Brown said. “When you're going against those types of edge guys, I mean, those are the best of the best, or at least top 5 in the NFL right now. So, it's a good test to see where you're at.”

It’s certainly a test, but one the Bills need to pass. In last year’s matchup, Allen looked to be injured on a sack by Will Anderson Jr. in the first half. He returned to the game, but the hits and sacks never stopped.

“There were times in the last, really last year and the year before, situations that I could have played better, and I took some bad sacks, and I put our team in some tough situations that didn't have to be like that,” Allen added. “Now, again, granted, those guys get paid too, and those guys are going to make plays, but limiting their, I guess, outcome on the game is what we have to do as an offense.”

“I take accountability for some of those hits as well because playing tight end, you gotta protect, you gotta block, and that might be my least favorite thing to see is Josh on the ground, especially when you're blocking the guy that tackled him,” tight end Dawson Knox said. “That is, you know, extra motivation. Like we want to keep him clean, we want to say there were zero sacks throughout the game. But also it's just the nature of the NFL. Like, those guys are incredible as well, and our offensive line is too, so I think again, it's going to be a great matchup.”