The 2026 Week 1 slate features a heavyweight matchup between Super Bowl hopefuls Houston and Buffalo, each favored to win its division and make a deep postseason run.
"This is an AFC Championship matchup," Texans pass rusher Will Anderson Jr. said this week, via the Houston Chronicle. "Two really good teams. We have a ton of respect for them."
The Texans have made the postseason each of the past three years under DeMeco Ryans, but bowed out of the tournament in the Divisional Round each campaign. The Bills, meanwhile, have made the playoffs in seven straight seasons, but have just two conference championship appearances in that span. Last year's Divisional Round loss cost coach Sean McDermott his job.
Sunday marks the third straight season the Texans will face the Bills in Houston. Ryans' club won both previous two meetings -- a last-second field goal victory in 2024 and a four-point win last year in a game where Houston's defense ravaged Josh Allen for eight sacks.
The Week 1 bout figures to be a tight matchup. The Texans finished 12-5 in 2025, and all five losses came by one possession, per NFL Research. Four of the Bills' six losses in 2025, including playoffs, were by one score.
Houston's pass rush will key Sunday's contest. Anderson and Danielle Hunter dominated the last contest, bamboozling Allen into two interceptions and just 253 passing yards in the contest. Can they do it in back-to-back matchups? Allen has taken more than five sacks versus an opponent four previous times in his career. In his next game versus each of those opponents (GB, BAL, SEA, MIA), he took two or fewer sacks and won.
The Bills will open head coach Joe Brady's first season in the big chair against one of the best defenses in the league. The Texans D set franchise records for total (277.2 YPG allowed, led NFL) and scoring defense (17.4 PPG allowed, second in NFL) in 2025 and was top five in NFL in yards per play allowed (4.8), opponent passer rating (76.2) and takeaways (29). How Brady tweaks his scheme now that he's fully in charge will be a storyline that will stretch beyond this week.
