Five Numbers Behind Josh Allen’s Woes Against the Texans

Josh Allen infamously has yet to beat the Chiefs in a postseason game, but there’s a team he’s struggled against even more: the Texans.

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While Allen has at least consistently taken down the Chiefs in the regular season, the Texans have given him a much tougher time. He is 1–4 against Houston in his career, and 0–3 when playing at NRG Stadium. For the third consecutive season, Allen will be playing against the Texans in Houston-and this time in Week 1.

• 2018: Week 6 (in Houston): Texans 20, Bills 13
• 2019: Wild-card round (in Houston): Texans 22, Bills 19
• 2021: Week 4 (in Buffalo): Bills 40, Texans 0
• 2024: Week 5 (in Houston): Texans 23, Bills 20
• 2025: Week 12 (in Houston): Texans 23, Bills 19

The Bills have started each of the past two years 3–0 or 4–0. It’ll be hard for them to get off to such a start again. Not only do they face the Texans the first week, but then the Lions, Chargers, Patriots and Rams-a stark contrast to last season, when they faced the Ravens, Jets, Dolphins and Saints to begin the year.

The Texans should prove to be the toughest matchup for Allen. They boast arguably the best defense in the league, and have been better than anyone at limiting the 2024 MVP. In five games against Houston, Allen has averaged 196 passing yards and fewer than one passing touchdown while completing 55.4% of his passes. Over his past two games against the Texans-his lone two against this iteration of the franchise under DeMeco Ryans-Allen has put up the following combined stat line:

• 384 passing yards (192 per game)
• One passing touchdown
• Two interceptions
• 51.5% completion rate
• 74 rushing yards (37 per game)
• 8.2 yards per carry
• Nine sacks (4.5 per game)

As Allen prepares to face his kryptonite again, here are five numbers that have defined his woeful performances against the Texans the past two years.

8: The number of times Allen was sacked last year against the Texans. Allen was sacked a career-high 40 times in 2025, and the Texans accounted for 20% of those. Overall, Allen was hit 12 times, and sacked on 53.3% of his pressured drop-backs, according to Next Gen Stats, the highest rate of his career when he’s been pressured at least five times in a game. The Bills have a good offensive line, but they were overwhelmed by an excellent pass rush starring Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, who combined for 4.5 sacks.

All 8 sacks from the @HoustonTexans defense on TNF pic.twitter.com/rNmHOvXwh3

– NFL (@NFL) November 21, 2025

70: The number of yards Allen lost on sacks in last year’s matchup against the Texans. Not only was Allen repeatedly sacked, but he lost an average of nearly nine yards per sack. This regularly put the Bills in bad down-and-distance situations, forcing them into passing situations which also prevented them from relying more on James Cook, their best skill-position player. Cook has played well against Houston, recording 198 yards and two touchdowns over two games, which included him averaging 6.8 yards per carry last November.

51.7: The number of yards Anderson traveled to get one of his 2.5 sacks on Allen. The 6’5″ quarterback is known for his ability to evade defenders and either scramble around to make a throw downfield or pick up extra yardage with his legs. What separated the Texans-and Anderson in particular-was his ability to relentlessly chase down Allen after initially failing to take him down.

Allen was running all over, trying and failing to escape Anderson and the rest of the pass rush. According to Next Gen Stats, he ran 882.2 yards during the game.

14.3: Josh Allen’s completion percentage when pressured in his past two games against the Texans, according to Mina Kimes. Per Kimes, Allen went 2-for-7 for 27 yards when pressured last season and 1-for-14 for 24 yards in 2024 while facing pressure. Not only are the sacks getting to Allen, but so is the bombarding pressure from Houston.

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It’s notable that Allen’s mistakes haven’t only come while under pressure. His first interception came when he wasn’t under pressure. Later, he was even nearly picked off on a pass from close to the sideline, something he has unusually excelled at through his career. In 2024, he missed an early deep shot to former Bills wideout Mack Hollins, who beat his defender and was open downfield, while not under much pressure. This could be the sacks and pressure affecting his overall play, but also, credit should go to Houston’s defense, which has excellent personnel at all three levels.

Josh Allen es interceptado por Calen Bullock, y la ofensiva de los Texans regresa al campo. pic.twitter.com/FtJ21dNqnZ

– NFL México (@nflmx) November 21, 2025

4.5: Allen’s average yards per attempt when facing man coverage against the Texans in 2025, per Sumer Sports. Overall against man coverage, Allen went 5-for-10 (50%) for 45 yards and one interception while taking six sacks. In comparison, he averaged 8.7 yards per attempt and was 19-for-24 (79%) for 208 yards and an interception while taking only two sacks when facing zone coverage. The disparity was glaring, but there is reason to believe Allen could be better against man coverage this time around.

Reasons for Allen and the Bills to be optimistic

Allen’s past two games against the Texans were ugly, but there’s reason to believe there could be a better outcome this time.

The main reason is the addition of DJ Moore. Allen played just one of his games against the Texans with Stefon Diggs, in 2021, when Houston was not a good team. In all four of Allen’s other matchups against Houston, he has not had a No. 1 receiver. This has been particularly tough when the Texans’ stingy secondary has played man coverage. Allen took too many sacks last November, but it is hard for him to get rid of the ball quickly or create explosive plays when he doesn’t have open targets to go to. The Bills showed they are ready to take advantage of the presence of Moore in the preseason, and while the Texans have the secondary to limit the Bills’ new top wideout, he’ll at least give Buffalo a legitimate weapon to potentially threaten them in man coverage.

Along with Moore, the Bills will also get tight end Dalton Kincaid back for this game. Kincaid has been one of Allen’s most dependable weapons over the past three years, but was injured during their matchup against Houston last season.

Perhaps the biggest reason for optimism is that despite how ugly Allen’s performances were, the Bills still nearly won both games against Houston. They’ve lost both games by one possession, and had it not been for a missed extra point early on last season, they could have potentially forced overtime with a game-tying field goal. If Allen and the offense are just a little more efficient or slightly less mistake prone, they could easily walk away with another Week 1 win.

This article was originally published on www.si.com as Five Numbers Behind Josh Allen’s Woes Against the Texans.

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