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Josh Allen Goes God Mode In Bills Win Over Texans · Alex Brasky: Unfiltered

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: From the heart of Bill's Mafia, this is El Grassy Unfiltered, Buffalo's most polarizing football show.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: No hot takes for flicks, no sugar coating, just bold opinions, insider perspective, and unfiltered Bill's talk.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, everybody, and welcome.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Back by Popular Demand.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is Alex Brasky Unfiltered, your first stop for raw, honest takes on the Buffalo Bills and more.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Please like, share, rate, and subscribe to the podcast, and also leave a comment on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: My oh my, what a thrilling win for the Buffalo Bills.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And why did we expect anything else?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: As this has really been the norm for the Bills over the past several years, particularly since Josh Allen took over as the team's starting quarterback.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: But really, it's taken on a life of its own in terms of the dramatics that the Bills create week in and week out since Allen began his rise to stardom.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, it's ended in an MVP level.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: And boy oh boy, did he perform at MVP level once again this afternoon in Houston?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: It was a stadium that the Bills had not won in since November of 2006.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: The last six meetings between the Bills and Texans in Houston wound up in the Texans' favor.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Josh Allen had never beaten the Texans in Houston, obviously, throughout his career, 0-4 for Allen against Houston on the road.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: But the Bills turned the tables on Sunday afternoon, and it took everything that the Bills' offense could muster up in order to pull out the victory.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: As the Bills' defense did not measure up in what was Jim Leonard's debut as defensive coordinator, but it was also Joe Brady's debut as head coach, and Brady begins his head coaching career at 1-0.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: So uh some good moments, some bad moments, a whole heck of a lot to talk about from this Bills Texans matchup.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll begin with Josh Allen's incredible performance.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: He really outdueled CJ Stroud in this one, and Stroud performed well.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: I did not expect much from Stroud in this game.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: He's really kind of fallen apart ever since a phenomenal rookie season, but he came to play, and Josh Allen had to go tit for tat with him throughout the contest.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, Allen outperformed Stroud.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: He out throws him 334 yards to 274 yards passing.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Allen finishes 20 of 29 with two touchdowns passing.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Also added a couple of touchdowns rushing.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Stroud finishes 26 of 38 with a couple of touchdowns passing.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: So Josh Allen's heroics were really the reason why the Bills were able to stick with the Texans through an uncharacteristically powerful offensive performance from Houston and eventually come out with the victory.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it really all started for Allen on the Bills' first touchdown drive of the game.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: The Bills came up short on their first possession, tried to go for it, and were not able to get there.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: But they come back, they respond with a field goal.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Here, let's bring up the play by play by play so I don't get anything wrong here.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so the Bills start the game with that turnover on downs, and they come through with the field goal to give themselves a 3-0 lead.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then the 10-7 lead is mounted behind Josh Allen's first touchdown of the day, a 21-yard touchdown run from Allen.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it was really our first vintage Josh Allen moment of what I'm sure is going to be many throughout what could be another MVP season loading for the Bills franchise quarterback.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: 21-yard rushing touchdown from Allen, scrambles up the middle, meets two defenders near the goal line, powers his way through them on his way to the end zone.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: It was just what you come to expect from Allen.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: He he puts the team on his back in so many of these moments, and he was able to do so again this afternoon against the Houston Texans.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, 334, two touchdowns passing, two touchdowns running, uh, the 34-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Joshua Palmer with one minute and 36 seconds remaining, giving the Bills that 36 to 31 lead that they would eventually hang on to and win the game by that margin.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: So Allen was efficient in this game.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: He was explosive.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: He worked the deep ball, was able to pick up uh a penalty targeting DJ Moore down the field, a deep connection between the two that we'll talk about later.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Also targeted Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid down the field.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: So that aggressiveness that we've heard from head coach Joe Brady and Josh Allen throughout the offseason really shined through in this game.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: And there was really only, I would say, one truly questionable throw from Allen in this game, that YOLO ball to Palmer, the play before the game-winning touchdown pass.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: So Allen, really high marks in this game.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Not much to complain about when it comes to his performance.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: There was a stretch there in the second half where the Bills were failing to provide the dagger in the heart of the Houston Texans.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I was getting worried that it was going to be another season where the offense had the ball at the end of a big game and failed to come through.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then the defense has to take the brunt of the blame.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: But no, no, no.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Josh Allen made the play, a strike to Joshua Palmer over the middle.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: It was Palmer's first catch of the day.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: You didn't hear much from Palmer nor Keon Coleman or Greg Dorch, the elevation from the practice squad who took the place of rookie Skylar Bell.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: It was really all DJ Moore, Khalil Shakir, Dalton Kincaid, James Cook, the Bills star players getting the ball from Allen, Cook in the running game, and Allen also putting the team on his back and carrying the Bills to victory.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, they start the season at 1-0 and a bunch of lead changes in this game.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: The Texans really, really performed well.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Tip my cap to them, but the Bills made one more play than they did.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Something that Brady preached throughout the week leading up to this game.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: He said it didn't have to be pretty, and it wasn't pretty at times.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: We'll touch on that in a little while from the defense, what I thought was an F minus performance from Leonard in his debut as Bill's defensive coordinator.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: But the Bills did enough to win.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Brady will take it one and oh to start his debut season as Bill said coach.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: And the way that they won this game, I think Brady is one of the heroes as well.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Started the game a little bit rough.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't love the play call on the fourth down on the first drive of the game when the Bills turned it over on downs.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: The designed run to the left side.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: I hated it, quite frankly.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: I thought it was a moronic play call.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Give the ball to Josh Allen, let him throw or scramble.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to call a designed run right there.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're going to call it up the middle, don't put him in space on the outside.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: I like it right up the middle, or call the pass play and let him scramble.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, they go with the design run.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't work out.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: But hey, at the end of the day, Brady did make some good play calls down the stretch and really helped his team seize the day at the end here against the Bills.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: A question from the sports scholar: Did you think the D-line was being too cute?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Just rush your gap, too many stunts, too much simulated pressures.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be frank with you.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: I thought the defensive line, when you look at individual performances, especially as the game wore on, I thought that they struggled against the running game.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'll have to look at the final stats here.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: But when you look at the Bills' defensive line unit, I thought there were standout performances across the board.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Ed Oliver played well and remained healthy first and foremost in this game.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: You had Deion Walker contributing in this game.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, Greg Rousseau coming up with a massive performance.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said before, we'll touch on the defense in a little while.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: But I thought it was a strong performance from individuals on the Bills' defensive line.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: But all in all, it was a pretty disastrous preparation or game plan that Leonard put together that did not allow the Bills to operate at their full efficacy throughout the game.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: So the Texans were averaging, I believe, over five yards a carry at the half.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: They ended the game with 3.9 yards per carry.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: So it looked like the Bills may have made some adjustments there in the second half.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'll have to go back and watch and see what they did.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: But that first half was rough.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: There were moments in the second half where the Texans were just able to rip off chunk play after chunk play, especially on their final touchdown drive of the game.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: So not great from the defense.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: We'll touch on it in a little bit.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: To round out the conversation about the offense, DJ Moore, boy, oh boy, was I wrong about him.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was not happy with the Bills when they gave up a second round pick.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Committed all that money to Moore in terms of guaranteed money to a near 30-year-old receiver who seemed to be on the decline based on his production over the past few seasons, but Moore really impressed me throughout training camp and the preseason.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I started to change my tune a little bit.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm ready to wave the white flag.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: I was wrong on this acquisition.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's just what the doctor ordered for Josh Allen and this Bill's passing game.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: It took a while for Moore to get going in this game.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't have his first reception until, I believe, late in the first quarter or the second quarter.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'll have to check on that.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: But the third drive of the game, Allen finds his new receiver, an 18-yard gain over the middle.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then later on that drive, Moore draws a 46-yard pass interference penalty that helped the Bills score from one yard out a Josh Allen touchdown to make it 17 to 14.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe that was their fourth drive of the game, 17 to 14 with 12 minutes 46 seconds left in the first half.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: But regardless, it took a while for Moore to get going in this one.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: But once he was targeted, he really came alive and came alive big time for the Bills.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: A 43-yard catch and run for a touchdown, a tight rope walk along the right sideline.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: That gave the Bills a 24 to 14 lead.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: He finished the first half, three receptions for 76 yards, and finished the game with five receptions for 100 yards.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: So this is exactly what you wanted to see from DJ Moore in his debut as a Bills wide receiver connecting with Josh Allen and not only connecting with Josh Allen, doing it down the field.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: That long gain of 43 yards for the touchdown, also the long throw to help draw the pass interference penalty.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: So it was a phenomenal performance from Allen and a great performance from DJ Moore as well.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: But it wasn't only Moore showing up in this game.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Dalton Kincaid may have had an even more exciting performance than Moore in this one.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: A team leading 130 yards receiving, five receptions for Kincaid, a phenomenal 38-yard grab, uh leaping to secure the catch over, I believe, the Texans top cornerback, Derek Stingley.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: And when Kincaid was drafted, he was viewed as really more of a receiving tight end and kind of a receiver in a tight end's body.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: When you go up and you rip one away from Derek Stingley like that, that's why Dalton Kincaid is viewed going into the season as a potential massive breakout candidate by not only those in the Buffalo media, but those in the fantasy community as well.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: And Kincaid really answering the bell in this game, just a phenomenal performance and one that I think he can really build upon.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: The most encouraging thing for Kincaid throughout this offseason training camp and preseason has been his health.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: We've seen some moments of brilliance in terms of his production on the practice field, but to see it all come to fruition today in the first game of the season against the secondary that might be the best in the league in the Houston Texans, certainly one of the best cornerback duos in Stingling uh Lasseter on the other side.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: So to see what DJ Moore, Dalton Kincaid, and also Khalil Shakir, who attacked down the field in this game, finishing with two receptions for 45 yards, really a supplementary piece, but I think that is what Shakir is meant to be in a championship level offense.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Incorporating Moore into this offense has pushed everybody down a peg.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's allowed some pressure to be taken off of Kincaid.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: And boy oh boy, did Kincaid and Moore work together seamlessly with Josh Allen.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Khalil Shakir had his bright moments as well.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then James Cook, six carries, 37 yards in the first half, 6.2 yards per tote.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: He finishes with 57 yards on 13 carries.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, it was a really, really strong game for the Bills offense.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: And there was a little bit of a second half lull that they overcame with the Josh Allen to Josh Palmer touchdown late to put them ahead.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: But there's not much to complain about here when it comes to the offense.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Just a clinical effort from the Bills.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: And let's see here.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: He had two fumbles from the Bills.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: They recover both of them, and Josh Allen is held without an interception.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: And he's only sacked twice in this game, with only a half a sack coming from vaunted pass rushing duo, Will Anderson Jr.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: and Daniel Hunter, Jadavian Clowney, with the other sack for the Houston Texans, and Mario Edwards contributing with Will Anderson Jr.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: on that sack.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: But just a top-notch game plan, I think, revealed itself as the game wore on.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I was a little uncomfortable at the start of the game with the play call on the fourth down attempted conversion and a few other things that Joe Brady decided to do.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Down near the goal line, I believe they called a pass play to the right side that almost ended up in the interception.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Then on second down, you run it in from one yard out with Josh Allen.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Why not just do it on first down?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: I don't understand that.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: But when you look at this game, by and large, Joe Brady had himself a good game.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: The Bills stay clean, very efficient offensively.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, look at the team stats here.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: As the Bills outgain the Texans 409 to 381.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: They averaged 7.9 yards per play to the Texans 5.2 yards per play.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: One for three in the red zone for the Bills.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Got to clean that up.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: The Texans go four for five in the red zone.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: A big time problem for the Bills defense, one of many.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: While the Bills offense and well, the Bills, I should say, called for 10 penalties, 85 yards.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: The Texans called for seven penalties, 106 yards.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: It was really a ref show this afternoon.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Alex, uh, I forget his last name, but the official today, just one of the crews that call the most penalties in the league, and they lived up to that today, just throwing flag after flag, 17 total on the day, two turnovers committed by the Texans.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: That also aids the Bills effort.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: They come away early.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see here.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: Early on in the game, the Bills come away with that fumble recovery.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: Greg Rousseau's first punch out of the day.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then during the fourth quarter, they seal it on Rousseau's second punch out of the day.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: So let's flip it over to the defense on this one, as it was really a worrisome performance by the unit as a whole.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mentioned already I thought the defensive line shined in this game at times.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: I thought at the start of the game they were really being gashed on the ground.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: So there's still some remaining concern there.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: But like I said, they made some adjustments, got better as the game went along.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought the pressure was really there throughout the game.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Rousseau, five quarterback hits in this game.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: You had Bradley Chubb getting in on things as well and making a difference.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: Really forcing the issue on that first fumble by CJ Stroud that was forced by Greg Rousseau, pushed Stroud up in the pocket.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Rousseau came from the other side, punched it out, and the rest was history.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: And Chubb finishes with four tackles and two quarterback hits in his Bills debut.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Greg Rousseau, just a Herculean effort in this game.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Four tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, two force fumbles, also a pass defense in his debut as an outside linebacker at the professional level.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people said that Greg Rousseau might fit in to Jim Leonard's system a little bit better than he did Sean McDermott's.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: And those people would be absolutely correct after game one.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: As Rousseau mentioned throughout this offseason, how he'd be able to shift back to his more natural side, the left side of the Bills' defensive line with Bradley Chubb, whose more natural side is the right side, and he reaped the benefits of it today.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Rousseau was all over the place, and really outside of Allen, I think the second most important factor in the Bills winning this game.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I get I don't have enough good to say about Greg Rousseau.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: I've been very, very hard on him, very hard on Brandon Bean for his selection in the draft and extending him and some other players that have been picked high up in the draft and just haven't provided that game-changing level of production.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: But we saw that today from Greg Rousseau.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: And let's hope this is a spark of things to come.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see Greg Rousseau do this for an entire season.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see him vault his game into a level where he can be named to the Pro Bowl, even though it doesn't exist anymore.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: He can be in the conversation for first, second team all pro.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: We haven't seen a season like that from Greg Rousseau.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: Has led the Bills in sacks, but isn't up there with one of the top pass rushers in the league.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: But today, if you look at look at his performance, just under a microscope and you take it for what it's worth, today, Greg Rousseau was one of the best defenders in the NFL, and I think a candidate for AFC defensive player of the week when this one is all said and done.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: But let's talk about Walker's big day as well.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: Walker, six tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, and a quarterback hit.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: We saw what Walker could do last season during his rookie year.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: What came out of nowhere, really?
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: A fourth round pick, someone who struggled with injury during his final season in college, which allowed him to drop to the Bills in the fourth round.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: Brandon Bean makes a sneaky, good selection at the time, and it's really turned out to be a stroke of genius for Brandon Bean as Walker looks ready for a massive breakout in year two, just creating penetration and wreaking havoc on that Texans offensive line, which we knew would be vulnerable in this game.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: This is not one of the best units in the NFL.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: They've allowed CJ Stroud to be pressured a bunch over the years, and that's kind of led to his kind of falling behind in the pecking order when it comes to the best AFC quarterbacks.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: So Deion Walker finding a way to impact the game along with Greg Rousseau, along with Bradley Chubb.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Ed Oliver gets on things, gets in on things as well.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oliver, five tackles, one tackle for loss, and a quarterback hit.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Terrell Bernard leads the way with 12 tackles, a tackle for loss.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: I thought he was all over the place.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: He went down with an injury briefly, which concerned me due to his injury history.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: But to see him pop back up, jog off the field, get back on there, and finish the game with the team lead and tackles, very encouraging performance from Terrell Bernard.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but like I said, I think all in all, when you look at this performance, it was just a horrendous, horrendous look for Jim Leonard.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: He had so much concern with Sean McDermott's defense in the past and and his defense's tendency to give up these big games to teams that necessarily you weren't expecting it from.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: And you get one today from the Houston Texans, and they could really do no wrong for much of this game.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's look at the first half here.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: They commit the fumble on the first drive, but then they go touchdown, touchdown, punt, touchdown to end the half.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: Then they come out of the half where the Bills seem to make some adjustments at halftime.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: They start the third quarter strong, forcing the Texans to punt on their first two possessions, but then the Texans go touchdown, field goal, punt before the fumble at the end.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: So they were able to regain their momentum down the stretch.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess if you look at it drive by drive, maybe not as abysmal as I thought, but still, when when you take this performance in totality and you look at what Houston was able to accomplish in this game, like I said, not even close to what you were expecting from a team that has struggled offensively with Stroud under center, they put up 31 points, 26 first downs to the Bills 20.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: They run 73 total plays, they hold the ball for 36 minutes and 17 seconds, which is nearly 13 minutes longer than the Bills.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: If it weren't for those two turnovers committed by the Texans, who knows what would have happened?
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: And you have to give the Bills defense credit for those.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: But how often can you rely on those?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: I know that we've said that over the years, but when you're giving Up 5.2 yards per play.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: You're allowing the Texans to possess the ball nearly 13 minutes longer than you.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's not going to work out more often than not.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: So there's so much for this Bill's defense to correct.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought the most worrisome aspect of this performance, they looked lost at times.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: There was times where Christian Benford was looking for help on the inside and it wasn't there.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: There's also a play later in the game with D.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Alford in coverage where he was looking for help and had a conversation with one of his teammates when it wasn't provided for him.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I was expecting there to be some growing pains for Jim Leonard, but boy, they they were really alarming, especially at the start.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe not the immediate start of the game, but as the first half wore on and going into halftime, especially that drive late in the first half where the Bills go down and score.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: They give it back to the Texans with limited time.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: And how long did it take the Texans to go down the field?
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: They go four plays, 86 yards in a minute and three seconds.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's not good enough from a championship level defense.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of it was penalties.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: You had a defensive pass interference called on Christian Benford on that drive.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: You also had rookie cornerback Davis and Igbenosen called for a defensive holding.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, Damar Hamlin guarding Nico Collins on a critical third down for God knows what reason.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: And he's called for a defensive holding, which eventually turns into a Texans conversion and then a Houston touchdown, touchdown.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: So just a lot of questionable moments from this Bills defense.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I think Leonard was expected to really turn things around for the Bills in short order.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: He was kind of looked at as the godsend for this team, where Brady was really the afterthought.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: Not many people pleased with his promotion, including myself.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'll throw my hand up.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: I did not like the Brady hire.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: I really like the Jim Leonard hire.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: Think he'll be a head coach in the future.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: But if you take his side of the ball's performance in this game, you don't think he's going to be head coach anytime soon.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: 6.1 yards per play in the first half, 215 total yards for the Houston Texans.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh just 21 points in the first half.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's nearly as many as they scored in the entire game against the Bills the last time around.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: So uh I'll say that the Bills strengthened a bit in the second half.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: They got the final stop that they needed to seal a win, but just a bad performance from Jim Leonard's defense as a whole, despite sifting through it for a few positive moments.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it's back to the drawing board for Jim Leonard.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Based on what I was expecting from Leonard in this game and his unit, F minus for Leonard and the Bills defense in this game.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: We already talked about the good signs for the Bills defense.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go back to the offensive side of the ball and bring up some concerns on that side of things.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: Really, one in particular, I guess I'll stick with.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the offensive line.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: They only gave up the two sacks, but a bunch of sloppy penalties in this game.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: Deion Dawkins called for a hold.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, he also whiffed on a block on that fourth down conversion attempt off the left side when they called the design run for Allen.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: Not a great performance from Dawkins, who lost a bunch of weight this offseason, was aiming for a rebound campaign after kind of a setback last year, a lackluster effort during the 2025 season.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: But Dawkins getting longer in the tooth and did not have a positive performance overall in this game, although he was able to keep Josh Allen clean.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: I look at that holding penalty, I look at the whiff on the fourth down conversion attempt, just not good moments for your franchise left tackle.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then you look to his right at the left guard position, Alec Anderson.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: He is called for a penalty in this game, holding, also allowed a sack early in the game.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: And Anderson's been a versatile piece for the Bills offensive line previously under old offensive line coach Aaron Cromer.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: And in his debut, I thought Pat Meyer, when you look at what the Bills were trying to accomplish in keeping Josh Allen clean, I thought that they accomplished what they were kind of setting out for in this game.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: But when you look at a couple of individual efforts, namely with Dawkins and Alec Anderson, a little bit to be concerned about.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: You do have veteran Austin Corbett waiting in the wings.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: If Anderson isn't able to kind of write the ship in week two and moving forward, settle into his new role.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: But if I'm going to nitpick the offense, I'm going to say I wasn't happy all at all with what the offensive line did in this game.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: Also, didn't quite get the push it wanted in the second half to keep the run game on the track that it was going in the first half.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: So uh a little bit to be desired for the Bills' offensive line in this one.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then you look at special teams.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: I thought this was overall a brilliant day for the Bills' special teams.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: You start with the elevation of Greg Dorch from the practice squad.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: He is indeed active for this game as Skylar Bell, the rookie wide receiver, was inactive for what would have been his debut in the NFL.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I was a little disappointed with that.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: I thought the Bills should have gone a different route, maybe gone with an extra wide receiver and benched a player at a different position.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: But instead they go with Bell on the bench, and Dorch has a couple of nice returns in this one.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: You had Tommy Doman Jr., the rookie punter with a 63-yard punt on his first punt, rolls all the way down to the four-yard line.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: I believe had one or two other good attempts as well.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then Tyler Bass finishing a perfect three for three on his field goal attempt.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, all in all, a really strong day from the Bills special teams in this one as the Bills march ahead 1-0 as they now look ahead to a week two matchup with the Detroit Lions.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: And let's see how the Lions fared in their game today.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: I know they were coming down to the wire with the Indy, Indianapolis Colts.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: It was headed to overtime, and the Lions sneak it out 31-30 over the Saints.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I said that they were playing somebody else.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry if I misspoke, but 31-30 against the Saints as the Detroit Lions improved to 1-0.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: We could have another thriller on our hands at the home opener on Thursday as a high-scoring uh affair there between the Lions and the Saints, a high-scoring affair between the Bills and Texans as well.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then you look at a few scores from around the league.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: I have yet to do this.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see if there were any surprises.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: The action right now, you have the Commanders trailing the Eagles 14-9 at halftime.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: The Raiders ahead of the Dolphins, 17-6 in the third quarter.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: The Packers 12-10 over the Vikings late in the first half.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: The Chargers trailing the Arizona Cardinals to start the second half.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: The Chargers are a team that the Bills will play in week three, I believe.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: And they're expected to be a Super Bowl contender, and they are facing the lowly Arizona Cardinals in only seven points in the first half.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: And they are trailing, entering that third quarter of play.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then you look at the other scores.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: The Pittsburgh Steelers squeak one out against the Tua Tungavallo Atlanta Falcons, 20-13.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: The Ravens blow out the Colts 41-23, an encouraging performance for Lamar Jackson and company.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: I like the Ravens this year.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: I really liked him last year.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: I was maybe one year ahead of myself.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: Jesse Minter gets his first win as head coach.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then the Chicago Bears, a team that the Bills will face late in the season, 59.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness, to 37 over the Carolina Panthers.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: I picked the Bills to lose to the Bears, and I'm not coming off that prediction after 59 spot put up by Chicago in Ben Johnson's first game of his second season as head coach and offensive guru and really shining through there, showing shades of uh Mike McDaniel and the Miami Dolphins when they put up 70.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: I believe it was on the Denver Broncos uh a few years ago, uh, but I digress.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: The Jacksonville Jaguars, an AFC contender, a team that the Bills faced off in the playoffs last year.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: 34 to 10 over the Cleveland Browns.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: You have the Lions win over the Saints.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: The Jets get their first win of the year.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: 23-10 over the Tennessee Titans.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: I picked the Jets distinct this year.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: Some people think that they could kind of outdo expectations, and they do so in week one, a 13-point win over the Tennessee Titans.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: Another AFC contender, the Cincinnati Bengals, 33-27 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: I know they were turning the Buccaneers over like crazy in that game.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: I wonder how it worked out to be a six-point game.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, those are your scores from around the league.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: The Bills start the season at 1-0.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: And we have a comment here from T Jab.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, the defense needs to improve, but it was the defense that actually tightened up and sealed the victory.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_00: I give the defense a B minus for a grade.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: The Texans improved both sides of their team.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I could see why someone would give a stronger grade than I did.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: But like I said, the way that that first half kind of went and it's it's who that the Bills were going up against.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: You're going up CJ Stroud, somebody who's struggled the last few years.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: And when Josh Allen is clicking like he was, setting the Bills up with a powerful first half performance, you put up 36 points and you only win the game by five, not good enough for Jim Leonard.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I'll uh take back the F minus when I re-watch the game.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: But right now, based on my expectations for this unit, my expectations for Leonard, uh an F minus for him in this game from me.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: But thank you for the comment, T Jab.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate the compliment as well uh providing my breakdown here on Alex Brasky unfiltered.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: But that's gonna do it for tonight's show, our post-game show here after the Bills 36 to 31 win over the Houston Texans.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_00: Let me just make sure I didn't forget anything here, as I don't want to leave anybody out.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: There was a lot of key pieces new to the Bills roster in this game.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: CJ Gardner Johnson had a pretty good game, a few physical moments from him, didn't really get beat at all.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: Cole Bishop went in and out of the game, but good to see him remain healthy.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: You had rookie cornerback Davison Igbenosen, some hot and cold moments for him, a defensive holding call, and then came back with a pass breakup to help force a fourth down, I believe.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: TJ Sanders was out in this game.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: Ty Johnson was out in this game, Sanders with a knee injury, Johnson with a quad injury, Jordan Hancock was also questionable, but he ended up suiting up in this one.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then you look at the penalties we talked about.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: Joe Brady, I'll give him a C in his debut.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a little tough grader.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: I I thought it was a perfect offensive effort, but the undisciplined play from his team, uh, the 10 men in the huddle on another occasion when the Bills were going to go for fourth down and they were unable to after the penalty, too many penalties in this one.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, just just not good enough for a championship team, all in all.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you look at the offensive performance, if he was still the offensive coordinator, I'd give him flying colors.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: But when you look at the defense's performance, you look at the sloppiness when it comes to the penalties, those both fall at the head coach's feet.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: So Brady is C plus, Leonard in F minus, Allen in A plus, Rousseau and A plus.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: Really individual efforts, I thought, turn the tide for the Bills in this one.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't scheme, it wasn't coaching, it wasn't anything that really Brady or Leonard did to set this team up in perfect position.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: It was Josh Allen making heroic individual plays.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: It was Greg Rousseau making heroic individual plays, and like I said, turning the tide for the Bills, and they come out with the win in this one.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: David Montgomery had his way, I think three touchdowns in this one, two or three touchdowns.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: The Bills struggled to stop him.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: The Texans have to be encouraged.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: What they saw from Montgomery.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: Caleb E.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: Lorem's Orr also spent some time at linebacker in this game.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: So you saw a platoon not only at quarter cornerback, also at linebacker.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_00: We'll have to wait for the snap counts, but both rookies at their respective positions working their way onto the field at times this season.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then we keep going down here.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: All right, I think I pretty much covered it all.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: Keon Coleman, a non-factor in this game, and I think that that's a good thing.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, keep him out of the fray as much as possible.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: Only use him when you desperately need to.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: Just keep it with those big three.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: Keep it with DJ Moore, keep it with Khalil Shakir, keep it with Dalton Kincaid in the passing game.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: Those are your breadwinners.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: Those are the three players that are going to help you reach the promised land.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to spend too much time working the ball to Joshua Palmer, who did come up with a big play today.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to force the ball to Keon Coleman to try to justify a horrendous draft pick from Brandon Bean.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: Give the ball to your stars and let them work for you like they did today against the Houston Texans.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: All right, that's officially going to do it for this episode of Alex Brasky Unfiltered.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciate everybody tuning in.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: Please take the time to like, share, and subscribe to the podcast on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: Also, rate the podcast, leave a comment or question as well.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to follow along for breaking news, weekly, and sometimes daily podcasts as the NFL season heats up.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: Week one is officially underway.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: The Bills 1-0.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: You can also follow the Alex Brasky Substack page for coverage via the written word.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: I posted a bunch today.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: My instant reaction is already up there.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: Also, some pregame predictions as well that you can go back and either roast me for or commend me for.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: So big win for the Bills today.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: Big week coming up on the podcast.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_00: Detroit Lions, Bills in the first ever home game at the new high mark stadium coming up Thursday in prime time under the lights in Orchard Park.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: Boy, I can't wait for that game.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great night, everyone.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_00: Stay true.