Sunday marks the start of a hopefully better era at Reliant Stadium with the Houston Texans taking over as the face of the AFC.
The Texans are set to open the 2026 NFL season at home on Sunday afternoon against the Buffalo Bills, a game which Houston could have implications on the seeding in the AFC.
Although they didn't win the division title, the Texans secured a 12-win record, marking the most wins since 2012 and the second-most wins in a single season in franchise history. This marks the fourth season for C.J. Stroud as he plans on taking the year in without a contract. Even if he's only slightly jumped ahead, the Texans defense should remain the elite standard in the league, pushing Houston back to double-digit victories.
Since 2019, Houston
has been the Achilles' heel of Josh Allen's regular-season success, winning four straight games at home over the former MVP. Over the past two years, the games have been close, but a game-winning field goal in 2024 and eight sacks last fall were the difference between a win and a loss.
And Allen knows this is the one game that could keep him from making a run toward the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
With Week 1 here, let's look at how Houston and Buffalo's personnel stack up against one another entering the regular season. Looking at the major metrics, here is where the Texans ranked following the 2025 season.
Scoring Offense
Texans: 23.8 PPG (13th)
Bills: 28.3 PPG (4th)
Rushing Offense
Texans: 108.9 YPG (22nd)
Bills: 159.6 YPG (1st)
Passing Offense
Texans: 218.1 YPG (14th)
Bills: 216.6 YPG (16th)
Total Offense
Texans: 327.0 YPG (18th)
Bills: 376.3 YPG (4th)
3rd Down Conversions
Texans: 39.16% (18th)
Bills: 46.44% YPG (3rd)
Red zone scoring
Texans: 45.9% (29th)
Bills: 67.1% (2nd)
Sacks allowed
Texans: 31 (10th)
Bills: 40 (22nd)
Penalties
Texans: 54.5 penalty YPG (23rd)
Bills: 50.3 penalty YPG (18th)
Turnovers
Texans: 12 (31st)
Bills: 19 (18th)
Scoring Defense
Texans: 17.4 PPG (2nd)
Bills: 21.5 PPG (12th)
Passing Defense
Texans: 183.5 YPG (6th)
Bills: 156.9 YPG (1st)
Rushing Defense
Texans: 93.7 YPG (4th)
Bills: 136.2 YPG (29th)
Total Defense
Texans: 277.2 YPG (4th)
Bills: 136.2 YPG (29th)
Opponents 3rd down conversions
Texans: 34.14% (2nd)
Bills: 42.54% (26th)
Opponets Red zone scoring
Texans: 55.3% (13th)
Bills: 58.2% (20th)
Sacks
Texans: 47 (6th)
Bills: 36 (20th)
Takeaways
Texans: 29 (4th)
Bills: 20 (16th)
Turnover Margin
Texans: +17 (2nd)
Bills: +1 (12th)
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Statistical Breakdown: How Texans and Bills stack up before Week 1
