Buffalo got the version of its retooled receiver room it paid for. DJ Moore caught 5 of 8 targets for 100 yards and a touchdown in his Bills debut, and Dalton Kincaid piled up 130 yards on 5 catches to lead all Buffalo pass-catchers. Houston's answer came on the ground: David Montgomery scored 3 total touchdowns and Nico Collins hauled in a receiving score of his own, proof the offensive line overhaul and the Montgomery signing weren't wasted, even in a loss.
None of it settled early. Houston led 7-3 after the first quarter before Buffalo ripped off 21 unanswered points in the second, and the two teams traded scores into the fourth with the Texans never more than a possession away.
Buffalo finally put it away with 1:36 left, when Allen found Joshua Palmer for a 34-yard touchdown — a name well down Buffalo's own preseason depth chart delivering the dagger after the top three receivers had already combined for more than 250 yards. The 2-point try afterward failed, which is why a game with that much separation still finished a single score apart.
Buffalo's only real absence heading in was cornerback Dorian Strong, and safety Cole Bishop (knee) made it back onto the field to start the second half. Houston came out of the game banged up on defense — Henry To'oTo'o left in a sling with a shoulder issue and Jake Hummel was questionable to return with an abdomen injury — the kind of attrition that piles up fast against an offense clicking the way Buffalo's did.
Both teams answered the exact question their offseasons were built around — Buffalo's passing game clicked immediately, and Houston's ground game and receiver corps looked functional even in defeat. But Stroud's turnovers were still the difference, same as in January. For a Texans team that spent the winter fixing everything around its quarterback, that's the most familiar and most frustrating stat line of the day.