The Buffalo Bills beat the Houston Texans 36-31 at Reliant Stadium on Sunday, and they did it with far less of the ball. Houston held possession for more than 36 minutes and ran 73 plays to Buffalo's 52. But Buffalo averaged about 8 yards a play to Houston's 5, and the Bills didn't turn it over once.

Houston, meanwhile, lost 2 fumbles. Against an offense moving the ball that efficiently, the Texans could not afford to give away possessions.

How It Happened

Tyler Bass opened the scoring with a 46-yard field goal in the first quarter. Houston answered late in the period when David Montgomery punched in a 1-yard run, and the Texans led 7-3 after one.

The second quarter turned into a track meet. Josh Allen ran 21 yards for a score to put Buffalo back in front, and Montgomery responded with an 18-yard touchdown run. Allen then scored from 1 yard out and hit DJ Moore for a 43-yard touchdown to open a 10-point lead.

Houston cut the deficit to 3 before halftime on C.J. Stroud's 12-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins. The only points of the third quarter came on a 34-yard Bass field goal.

Every score in the fourth quarter flipped the lead. Stroud found Montgomery for a 7-yard touchdown to put Houston up by a point. Bass hit from 33 yards to put Buffalo back in front, and Ka'imi Fairbairn answered with a 58-yard field goal to give the Texans the lead again.

Allen had the last word. He hit Joshua Palmer for a 34-yard touchdown with 1:36 left. The two-point pass failed, but Houston still needed a touchdown and didn't get one.

Key Performers

Josh Allen, BUF: 2 rushing TD (21, 1 YDS), 2 passing TD (43, 34 YDS)
Bills passing: 20-29, 323 net YDS, 0 INT
Tyler Bass, BUF: 3 FG (46, 34, 33 YDS)
David Montgomery, HOU: 2 rushing TD (1, 18 YDS), 1 receiving TD (7 YDS)
C.J. Stroud, HOU: 2 passing TD (12, 7 YDS)
Texans passing: 26-38, 257 net YDS, 0 INT

Allen accounted for 4 touchdowns, and the two through the air came on throws of 34 and 43 yards. That is the explosiveness Houston never matched: the Bills averaged more than 10 yards per pass attempt, while the Texans averaged about 6.

Montgomery was Houston's whole scoring offense on the ground and a big piece of it through the air. He had a hand in 3 of the Texans' 4 touchdowns.

What It Means

Buffalo opens 1-0 with a road win, but this was not a clean one. The Bills went 3 of 9 on third down, scored a touchdown on just 1 of 3 red-zone trips and drew 10 penalties for 85 yards. Coming away without a touchdown on 2 of those red-zone trips is part of why Houston was still in it at the end.

Houston falls to 0-1 at home, and the loss stings because the offense did its job. The Texans gained 381 yards, converted 7 of 16 third downs and both fourth-down tries, and finished 4 of 5 red-zone trips with touchdowns. Sustaining drives was never the problem.

The problem was everything else. Two lost fumbles, 106 penalty yards and a pass defense that gave up chunk plays erased a day when Houston won the time of possession by more than 12 minutes. Ball control only wins if you protect the ball and keep the other side from scoring in a hurry, and the Texans did neither.