HOUSTON -- DJ Moore took the Buffalo Bills from 0 to dominance in 90 seconds.
That's all the possession time the Bills needed for an offensive bonanza that began with Moore's first reception as a Buffalo Bill and produced a pair of touchdowns, the second a breathtaking strike up the right sideline to Moore.
The Bills needed only six plays in that span, seven if we count the 46-yard pass interference penalty Moore drew in the end zone. Through three catches and the interference penalty, Moore accounted for 122 yards and darn near staked the Bills to a 10-point lead all by himself.
"Dang," Moore said when I shared those numbers. "That's a great day!"
It's never a one-man show, of course, and the box score would indicate that all-cosmos quarterback Josh Allen controlled matters in a 36-31 victory over the Houston Texans in Reliant Stadium, a place he has never won. Allen threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns, including the 34-yard winner to Joshua Palmer with 1:36 remaining, and ran for a pair of touchdowns.
But in a rematch against a hazardous defense that pulverized Allen and his offensive mates last year, the key difference-maker was Moore, the trade acquisition the Bills summoned to achieve exactly this.
"This is a preview," Moore said. "It can only get better from here."
Big, if true.
Moore's first impression was stellar. Allen and first-year Bills coach Joe Brady didn't target Moore until there were less than five minutes left in the second quarter.
Allen began their fourth possession with an 18-yard play-action pass to Moore on a post pattern to the Texans' 47-yard line. One snap later, Allen heaved an end-zone strike to Moore, who almost caught the ball despite cornerback Kamari Lassiter's interference. After an incomplete pass to Khalil Shakir that nearly became a pick-six, the Bills tush-pushed Allen for the touchdown.
Three plays, 65 yards, 49 seconds.
Buffalo's next possession began on Houston's 4-yard line. Allen opened with a scrambly, 38-yard lob to leaping, stretching tight end Dalton Kincaid and followed with a 15-yard zip to Moore on an in route to the Texans' 43-yard line.
Then came the mesmerizing TD play. Out of shotgun formation, Allen looked left before eventually finding Moore deep down the right sideline. Houston was in Cover 2, with cornerback Derek Stingley in front of Moore and safety Reed Blankenship charging from behind. Allen unloaded what he called "another horseshoe throw." Blankenship went for the interception.
"The safety misses it by a whisker," Allen said.
The ball stuck to Moore's hands, but he was so close to the sideline that he was unsure if he might step out of bounds.
"It was a little pause because I needed to have the ball secured," Moore said, "and I know I'm on the sidelines, but where exactly am I at? How close am I? Then I said, 'Oh! You can go!'"
Near the line of scrimmage, Buffalo right tackle Spencer Brown had a terrific view.
"The pass was legit right over top my head," Brown said. "I could see it. His balance is crazy to be able to do that. He took a moment just to find out where he was and said, 'I guess I might as well score.'"
Three plays, 96 yards, 41 seconds.
The sequence gave Buffalo a 24-14 lead, and in a game that featured nine lead changes -- five in the first half alone -- the sudden explosion was crucial.
"We told DJ in the preseason, 'Don't get used to long drives,' and you just said it took us six plays in 90 seconds," Brown said. "It's all a blur to me."
Moore finished with five receptions for 100 yards, his first triple-digit game since November 2024 with the Chicago Bears, although he needed overtime to get there. His last 100-yard regulation game happened a month before that.
Moore, however, could have had an even bigger day. He made his last reception five minutes into the second half. He played all but nine snaps before limping off the field on the final drive. Moore went to the blue medical tent twice -- once to get "stretched out," he said, and again to make sure he was OK. He returned to the game and said afterward that he's uninjured.
No doubt, Moore's presence also gave Houston something else to worry about when Palmer got open for the winning touchdown. It was Palmer's only catch of the day, and it capped another 96-yard drive. Since the NFL began tracking drives in 1993, the Bills have never had two that long in the same game and are now one of only five teams to do it.
Kincaid also flourished. With five receptions for 130 yards, Kincaid had the most yards by a Bills tight end since Paul Costa topped that figure twice in 1967.
The only other time in Bills history they've had a 100-yard receiver and tight end in the same game was Andre Reed and Pete Metzelaars in the famous 1992 No Punt Game against the San Francisco 49ers.
The Texans, meanwhile, hadn't allowed at least 36 points since the end of the 2023 season.
How much credit does Moore get for opening up such historic production? We likely won't know for several more games, but the first blush looks radiant.
"He just brings good vibes to the offense," Brown said. "He's not running up and down the sidelines, asking for the ball. He's not out there, doing things to hurt the team. He's a team-first guy."
In semi-related news, Washington Commanders receiver Stefon Diggs caught four of his nine targets for 55 yards and a touchdown (and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty) in Sunday's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
In the Reliant Stadium visitors' locker room Sunday afternoon, Moore leaned against a door and pondered what his debut might mean for the 2026 season. It was one game, albeit a biggie, in what the Bills hope is their most successful era.
"The best is yet to come," Moore said. "We didn't play a clean game. Once we do, we'll be on full display of who we truly are."
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
