There’s no time for the Buffalo Bills to sulk.
Buffalo follows a 35-10 dud to AFC contender Baltimore with another team expecting to make a deep playoff run, the Houston Texans. The Bills are in the midst of what appears to be their toughest stretch of the season, with three consecutive road games and four of five.
Injuries haven’t helped brighten the mood in Western New York since losing to the Ravens, but the Bills will need to have a solid performance to avoid another loss. And while one loss won’t hurt the Bills in the overall playoff race, conference losses — especially against playoff teams — plays a factor in seeding later in the season.
Here are four areas to watch:
First down: A Stefon Diggs reunion
Diggs started the 2023 season by proclaiming he wanted to retire as a member of the Bills. That was while he spent roughly 18 months trying to force his way out of Buffalo.
His four-year stretch was the best by any receiver in franchise history, leading the NFL with 445 receptions during that span. He even seemed to develop a genuine relationship with quarterback Josh Allen that helped create one of the top offenses in the league and a team with the second-most wins, behind only the Kansas City Chiefs.
But by the end of 2022, Diggs grew frustrated the Bills couldn’t find more ways to get him open as his numbers experienced a slight dip down the stretch, capped by berating Allen on the sidelines during a 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC divisional round. Despite a hot start last season, the rift was never repaired with the team, and when Joe Brady was elevated to relieve offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, Diggs was no longer the focal point of the offense.
In turn, the Bills had enough of Diggs’ mercurial nature and his cryptic comments. Diggs’ last as a Bill seemed to claim he was the reason for Allen’s ascent in becoming one of the league’s top quarterbacks and they decided it was better to pay him $30 million to play elsewhere, trading him to Houston for a 2025 second-round pick.
The Bills have taken a few subtle jabs at Diggs since the trade, including Allen. During training camp he was asked if he missed Diggs, saying, “I don’t know if I’d say miss.”
After a 47-10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Allen made a comment that was another perceived shot at his former top target, saying, “It’s a fun and wonderful thing when you got a bunch of guys that don’t care about the stats, they don’t care about the touchdowns.” Allen walked it back the following week with unsolicited comment, and throughout the Diggs drama, he’s largely been complimentary, including this week.
“I’ve got a lot of love for him. I still do,” Allen said. “The things that he did for me in my career, and the things that he did in a Buffalo Bill uniform won’t be forgotten anytime soon, especially from me. So, that’s how I look at it.”
Allen admitted he hasn’t spoken to Diggs recently and plans to seek him out prior to the game, much like he did with receiver Gabe Davis and center Mitch Morse against Jacksonville and safety Jordan Poyer in Miami.
Diggs’ new quarterback C.J. Stroud is praising him the same way Allen did in Buffalo, although he took it a step further. Stroud told Houston media, “I’m very happy for him and I’m glad that he’s finally having fun playing the game and doing what he loves to do because he loves football a lot.”
For Diggs’ part, he’s playing the good teammate once again.
“It’s easy to get a bad rap,” Diggs said. “When you get to a new place, they get to gauge you for their own personal interaction with you. Things usually turn the corner when I get to a new place. There’s usually smiles and a lot of positive stuff. … I got big shoulders, I can take it.”
Second down: How Diggs fits into Texans offense
The Diggs trade seems to be beneficial for both teams early in the season. Diggs has 25 receptions and three total touchdowns, while Allen has nine total touchdowns and no interceptions, earning AFC Offensive Player of the Month.
But Diggs is not the focus of Houston’s offense. He is second on the team in receptions and yards (233). However, he is averaging a career-low 9.3 yards per catch while working out of the slot more than any point in his career.
Nico Collins leads the NFL with 489 yards — on pace for a league-record 2,078 yards — and is averaging a whopping 16.3 yards per catch. Houston has had 13 passes that have gained at least 20 yards, but the Bills have only allowed six such passes, with the longest being 26 yards.
Third down: Bishop gets his first start
With safety Taylor Rapp sidelined with a concussion, rookie second-round pick Cole Bishop will get his first NFL start. Bishop played 41 snaps in relief of Rapp against the Ravens, making six tackles.
Bishop felt he missed a few tackles, but not many assignments in his first major action. Safety is the most complex position in Buffalo’s defense, so not only does Bishop have to know his assignments, but everyone else’s and has to help communicate with the linebackers and the rest of the secondary.
His early development was stunted after missing almost all training camp with a shoulder injury and was a healthy scratch against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1. But the Bills could have started veteran Mike Edwards — who has been a healthy scratch the last few weeks — or moved Cam Lewis from the slot to safety, with Ja’Marcus Ingram taking over the slot.
Although linebacker Terrel Bernard appears on track to play, the Bills still have not ruled out slot cornerback Taron Johnson, who wore a red non-contract jersey Friday for the third day in a row. Regardless, the Bills haven’t made any of those moves, with coach Sean McDermott saying Friday that Bishop will start, a nod to his improvement in recent weeks.
“I’m making sure I’m more worried about us and than them,” Bishop told the Gazette. “Last week, we didn’t put out our best stuff, so being able to go back, get back to the fundamentals and technique and you know being able to really hone in on that this week, and do what our defense is based on this weekend.”
Fourth down: Better communication up front
Allen said after the loss to the Ravens that his communication with the offensive line could have been better. He was pressured a season-high 15 times and was sacked on three of them.
The Bills offensive line has given up a league-low 25 sacks since the start of 2023, but they face a Houston defense with a dynamite pass rush. The Texans rank second in the league with 14 sacks, headed by talented ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, who have combined for four sacks thus far.
Houston will be without edge rusher Derek Barnett, who has two sacks this year, but the Bills will need a much better outing than last week. With the amount of defensive injuries, the Bills will want to control the clock, so that means sticking to the run after calling 11 running plays in the second half, five after Allen was pulled in the fourth quarter.