The Bills suffered their first loss of the season in Week 4 but will have a chance to bounce back in Week 5 against the Texans. Buffalo's set to have their second of three straight away games come Sunday.
Here are 5 things to know about Sunday's game against the Texans.
1. Bouncing back from Week 4's loss
The Bills had their first loss of the season in Week 4's matchup against the Ravens. The coaching staff believes there's lots to learn from the loss and they hope to use those lessons in Week 5.
"We need to make sure that we're taking care of things week to week, game to game, and that we're detailed the way we need to be detailed, we're playing physical the way we need to play physical," head coach Sean McDermott said.
McDermott admitted the Bills were challenged on both sides of the ball at the line of scrimmage. Quarterback Josh Allen said the Ravens were more physical at the line of scrimmage and believes they could have done a better job of communicating.
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady said it starts with him, and he's taking full accountability for the offense's struggles.
"You try to pride yourself on trying to be a two-dimensional football team and being able to run the ball and pass the ball," Brady said. "…I got away from the run too early, and it puts a lot of stress on our guys."
The Bills finished with just 81 rushing yards against the Ravens and were averaging 120 rushing yards per game going into the contest. Brady said he's looking forward to getting back into the right rhythm during practices this week.
"It's a great opportunity for us to get back to the basics and have a normal week of us getting after it, practicing the details, going through it all over again," Brady shared. "I enjoy practice. I think when we're flying around and the guys are knowing what we're doing and we're able to practice it, everything slows down on game day."
After the Ravens rushed for 271 yards against Buffalo, defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said the defense needed to do a better job with their fundamentals. Babich said that starts with him.
"Failure is the best thing that can teach you," Babich said. "I think success is an awful teacher…we just got to look at what happened. It has nothing to do with what we're gonna do moving forward as long as we don't let it. That was part of the message today was, 'Hey, learn from our mistakes, move on, get better, and get ready for Houston.'"
Houston is 3-1 to start the season. Quarterback C.J. Stroud has the fourth-most passing yards in the league with 1,054 and ties for the fifth-most passing touchdowns with six.
They're a team that's loaded at wide receiver and bring the physicality on defense.
"They've been loading up for some time last year, and then this past offseason through the draft, through free agency," McDermott said. "It seems like they already had a good team coming off last year's team. So, it's going to be a big challenge for us going into their place."
2. Defending an ultra-talented receiving corps
The Texans have the second-most receiving yards in the NFL with 1,146. That's thanks to a top-tier group of weapons in Houston.
A few of the names that make up the wide receivers room are Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs, Tank Dell and Robert Woods. Tight end Dalton Shultz has also been a factor in the passing game.
Collins, who stands at 6'4 and 222 pounds, leads the NFL with 489 receiving yards through four games. He also has 30 catches (2nd most) and is averaging 16.3 yards per catch (3rd most, min. 20 receptions).
"He's a big, physical receiver," Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said via the team's website. "People don't realize how fast he is…his mindset of working hard, being deliberate in practice, and working on being consistent and reliable. He's done that…now he's one of the best receivers in the NFL."
Diggs is another receiver who has been producing alongside Collins. He has the second-most receiving yards on the team with 233. Both he and Collins have two receiving touchdowns each to start the season.
Babich said they'll have to be ready for Diggs knowing how familiar he is with Buffalo's defense.
"Stef's a great player," Babich said. "Went against him a lot whether it was training camp or watching him in one on ones, all those types of things…obviously we're gonna have to try to limit what he does in the game."
The Bills will also need to worry about Houston after the catch because they're one of the best at doing so with 541 yards after the catch, which is good for sixth best in the NFL.
When it comes to stopping the pass, the Bills defense is allowing 165.3 passing yards per game (6th best), 5.5 yards per pass attempt (best in NFL) and has four interceptions (ties for 5th most).
3. Familiar faces in Houston
The Bills will face a few familiar faces in Houston on Sunday. WR Stefon Diggs, DT Tim Settle Jr., DE Jerry Hughes and WR Robert Woods all had stints in Buffalo.
Buffalo traded Diggs this offseason after four productive seasons as a Bill. The All-Pro WR had four straight seasons of at least 1,100 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns. Diggs went to four straight Pro Bowls as a Bill and played an instrumental role in helping the Bills earn four consecutive AFC East titles.
Settle played for Buffalo from 2022-2023. The DT played in 32 games and started in four with the Bills. He had 33 total tackles, two sacks and five tackles for loss during his time in Buffalo.
Hughes is in his third season with Houston but spent the bulk of his NFL career in Buffalo. The DE played for the Bills from 2013-2021. In those nine seasons, Hughes played in 144 games and started in 127. He racked up 350 total tackles, 53 sacks, 16 forced fumbles and 74 tackles for loss.
Woods was a second-round draft pick by the Bills in 2013. The WR played in 57 games and made 48 starts for Buffalo. He had 203 catches for 2,451 receiving yards and scored 12 touchdowns.
4. Dorian Williams' hot start to the season
Second-year linebacker Dorian Williams has started in every game so far this season. The LB is playing in place of linebacker Matt Milano who is sidelined indefinitely with a biceps injury. The young player has done far more than just fill in.
Williams leads the team with 41 total tackles, has two tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Babich was impressed by Williams' ability to lock in during the second half of last week's game against the Ravens.
"He's done a great job of maturing that way and becoming a professional," Babich said of how the LB has grown. "This is the NFL, man. Everybody's good, and there's going to be bad things that happen at times, and you've got to move on…and that was really good to see him do.
"He provided a little bit of a spark for us in there, and it's cool to see how his game is growing."
Williams led the team with 12 tackles in Week 4. The LB has recorded at least nine tackles in all four games to start the season. It's the most consecutive games with at least nine tackles per game by a Bill since 1996.
5. The Bills have .770 win percentage following losses since 2019
The last time the Bills lost a game in the regular season prior to Week 4 was Week 12 of the 2023 season. Buffalo dropped a close game to the Eagles losing 37-34. After that loss, Buffalo got back to business.
The Bills followed it up with five straight wins to end the regular season. Those wins continued into the 2024 regular season with another three straight victories. That means the last time the Bills lost during the regular season, they followed it up with eight wins in a row.
In fact, head coach Sean McDermott is 18-5 after losses since 2019. McDermott is also 4-1 following Buffalo's first loss of a season since 2019.
