Having Josh Allen as your quarterback is a bit like owning a high-performance sports car with an odd mechanical flaw that can’t be repaired. Most of the results are amazing – perhaps unprecedented – but there are also times when you wonder if a safer ride would get you farther. In Buffalo’s 36-31 Sunday win over the Houston Texans, Bills fans saw all sides of the Allenmobile.
The quarterback completed 20 of 29 passes for 334 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 130.5. He also ran the ball six times for 23 yards and two more touchdowns, the first a typical romp through the opposing defense. A two-play sequence perfectly summarized the Allen rollercoaster.
There was his desperation heave into the end zone with 1:48 left in the game when the Bills were down 31-30. Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter dropped what should have been an easy game-sealing interception, which gave Allen the second chance he needed to thread the needle on this amazing 34-yard touchdown pass to receiver Joshua Palmer. The Texans had one more chance to pull the game out, but CJ Stroud fumbled the ball with 16 seconds left on a sack, and that was that.
Stroud, by the way, is playing this season for his second NFL contract, which is a strange place for an alleged franchise quarterback to be. Stroud has been up and down in the two full seasons since he was the Offensive Player of the Year in 2023, but he did his level best here. This time, Good Josh Allen – and an inability to capitalize on Bad Josh Allen – sank the opponent.
In fairness, Allen has cut down on his devotion to hero ball and become a much safer player in recent seasons. He committed 37 total turnovers in the 2022 and 2023 seasons combined, and just 18 combined in 2024 and 2025. And those errors often came because the Bills’ shortcomings meant he had to take risks.
Once again, this game presented a situation in which Allen had to be Superman for his team to win. We’ve seen that all too often before, and Bills fans have hoped that a more balanced Bills team may take Allen to a Super Bowl for the first time. The balance isn’t here yet.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
