ORCHARD PARK — Jim Leonhard stepped to the podium for a press conference Monday a day after his debut as an NFL defensive coordinator, one that didn’t go as expected.
But Leonhard was encouraged, not defeated.
Yes, the Buffalo Bills allowed 381 total yards — 124 on the ground — and gave up 31 points to the Houston Texans. But Leonhard’s defense forced more punts (4) and turnovers (2) than Houston’s, while they sealed the game with Greg Rousseau’s strip-sack in the waning moments.
Leonhard saw his team slow to adjust when the Texans presented something foreign and they spent too much time processing what was happening instead of reacting. They were also flagged for five defensive penalties and gave up 7 of 16 third downs.
It was also Week 1, which meant getting unscouted looks and the first time his players played a real game in a new scheme. And it wasn’t like the Bills were any worse than the rest of the league.
Ten teams eclipsed 30 points — heading into the Monday Night Football matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos — compared to five in Week 1 last year, marking the highest-scoring opening week since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
The Bills didn’t have to look further than the opposite sideline of Reliant Stadium. Houston had 2025’s best defense and surrendered more points (36), total yards (409) and passing yards (323) than it did in any game last year.
“It wasn’t like they were gashing us in the run game with a bunch of explosives, but it might have been a play that you think is going to be a second and 8 and it’s a second and 5,” Leonhard said. “So there were a lot of those where it just got a little bit leaky in the run game. … It just felt like they were consistently ahead of where you wanted them to be because if we were able to get them behind the sticks, we had some success.”
The Bills started fast, with Rousseau recording a strip-sack on the opening defensive series. But Houston was able to get into a rhythm. And it was largely due to the running game.
The Texans only had three designed runs over 10 yards — one being an 18-yard touchdown run by David Montgomery — but they had 13 runs over four yards and seven of them came on first down.
When Houston faced a third and 7 or longer, it was 3 of 9 on third down. It was 4 of 7 on third and 5 or shorter. And Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud went 7 of 9 for 104 yards on any down with under seven yards to gain.
“Once I started getting the ball out of my hand, we were able to build some rhythm,” Stroud said. “I thought I played good. I thought I put the ball where I needed to.”
Early-down success also resulted in quick throws, which negated how much pressure the Bills could put on Stroud. Even the Texans were surprised by how little the Bills blitzed, sending an extra rusher on 24.7% of Stroud’s drop-backs, ranking 17th in Week 1.
The Bills hit Stroud nine times (five by Rousseau) and he was 2 of 6 for minus-2 yards and three sacks when pressured. But all those instances came with nine or more yards to gain.
However, Stroud was 10 of 12 for 133 yards and a touchdown against the blitz. Leonhard felt the Bills weren’t executing blitzes well so he had to rely more on disguises, while Stroud was releasing the ball in 2.71 seconds, the NFL’s eighth-fastest time of opening week.
“If they’re just going to get the ball out, you’re wasting it,” Leonhard said. “You’re just creating voids in coverage that they can take advantage of. And that’s where I felt like I was trying to be patient with it once I saw that they were trying to get the ball out as quick as they were. … We tried to heat them up on some third downs, and it didn’t work out for us. So it kind of got us to a situation where we played a little bit more coverage and leaned on that.”
Still, Leonhard felt there were positives in the second half. While the Bills gave up two many free runners in the secondary, he also thought they created confusion that required Stroud to hold the ball occasionally.
The Bills also held Houston to 3.9 yards per carry, allowing just 30 yards rushing on 14 attempts after halftime. And they held the Texans scoreless on 4 of 6 second-half possessions.
They will need those adjustments with the Detroit Lions Thursday. The Lions are the only team with more points than the Bills since 2023 and they are coming off a 31-30 overtime win over the New Orleans Saints.
Quarterback Jared Goff is the conductor — his 494 yards in 2024 were the most ever allowed by the Bills — and he has a trio of superb weapons in receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, along with tight end Sam LaPorta.
But everything starts with running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who recently signed the richest running back contract in NFL history at $67.5 million over three years. Gibbs was fifth in the NFL with 1,839 scrimmage yards and second with 18 total touchdowns last season.
He opened the season with 156 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries, adding five catches for 30 yards. If the Bills can’t contain Gibbs, it will be a long night.
“The run game, the play-action, the boots, like everything plays off of what he can do,” Leonhard said. “… They have that talent and they’re spread all over the place. You have to understand where they are because it’s such a unique skill set out of each one.”
NOTES: The Bills signed FB Brock Lampe to the practice squad and released OL Nick Broeker. … The Bills did not practice Monday, but were required to release an injury report due to the Thursday night game. Had they practiced, LB Terrel Bernard (calf), RB Ty Johnson (hamstring) and DL T.J. Sanders (knee) would have been limited.