Entering a Week 1 road matchup, the Buffalo Bills had lost three of their last four games against the Houston Texans. In fact, the Bills' close defeat to Houston in late November of last season could have been considered a regular-season low point. To beat the Texans and their elite on-paper defense in their house, someone was going to have to go off-script.
There's probably no better candidate to do so for Buffalo than Josh Allen.
With the Bills' offense facing a big third-and-long on their final possession against the Texans on Sunday, the former MVP fired an absolute laser to Josh Palmer in the end zone for the eventual game-winning touchdown. At first glance, it looked like a normal read and a normal pitch-and-catch, even in the context of a clutch
situation. That wasn't the case, though.
As Allen explained after the game, he was actually never supposed to throw in Palmer's direction. In fact, per Allen, the Bills had never even practiced throwing the ball to Palmer on the specific play call involved. For all intents and purposes, it was Allen improvising a read on the fly with a gut call that Palmer would be ready to deliver in crunch time.
His instincts, quite obviously, proved to be correct:
"This is not where the ball is supposed to go. We have never once repped the ball going there."
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 13, 2026
Josh Allen breaks down the Josh Palmer TD, which gave the Bills the lead late in the game
🎙️: @EvanWashburn pic.twitter.com/SMxQxE7Ti4
Seriously, because it wasn't a classic "scramble drill" play, I would've never guessed Allen was ad-libbing on the biggest play of the game. Watch the replay of said touchdown and you'll likely feel the same:
Josh Allen and Joshua Palmer put the Bills in front ❗️
— NFL (@NFL) September 13, 2026
BUFvsHOU on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/eNdVmErKAz
I guess that's the kind of greatness presented by a signal-caller like Allen. Even when you think everything is going according to plan, sometimes he's just working on a hunch. One thing's for sure: The superstar quarterback has definitely earned that right.
Who do the Bills play next?
They host the Detroit Lions next Thursday night in their home opener, which also debuts their new stadium.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Josh Allen had hilarious story behind Bills’ winning TD: ‘Never once repped the ball going there'
