Josh Allen connects with Joshua Palmer for a late TD and Bills beat Texans 36-31 in wild opener

HOUSTON (AP) — Josh Allen didn’t wait for the question he knew was coming on Sunday after finally leading the Buffalo Bills to a road win over the Houston Texans in a season-opening thriller.

“We do like Reliant Stadium,” he said with a big smile. “Woo.”

Allen threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Palmer with 1:36 remaining to lift the Bills to a 36-31 victory in a back-and-forth game.

Allen had 334 yards passing with two touchdowns and ran for two more scores after losing his previous four games at Reliant Stadium.

“It feels good to start the season off right,” Allen said.

It was the Bills' first win at Houston since Nov. 19, 2006.

The Texans led 31-30 when Allen split two defenders to find Palmer. The 2-point conversion failed.

One play earlier, Houston's Kamari Lassiter got his hands on a pass from Allen in the end zone but couldn’t grab the interception.

“We got lucky,” Palmer said. “He dropped it. Next play I caught it.”

The Texans had a chance to win in the closing seconds, but Greg Rousseau had his second strip-sack of the day, taking down C.J. Stroud at the Buffalo 28. Terrel Bernard recovered to seal the victory.

It was a disappointing outing for Houston's vaunted defense, which led the NFL in yards allowed and ranked second in points allowed last season.

“We had multiple opportunities to make plays, had chances to make plays on the football and we didn’t make plays,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said.

Houston allowed its most points since a 36-22 loss to Cleveland on Dec. 24, 2023.

“We’ve got to do a better job, especially closing out the game,” defensive end Will Anderson said. “It just wasn’t our standard. That’s not who we are. That’s not who we want to be as a defense. ”

Dalton Kincaid had five receptions for 130 yards and DJ Moore had five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown in his Buffalo debut after a trade from Chicago.

Buffalo's Joe Brady started his head coaching career with a win after he was promoted from offensive coordinator following Sean McDermott’s firing after nine seasons.

“You saw a lot of the conviction, everything we sort of talk about,” Brady said. “We didn’t care how pretty. There’s no such thing as an ugly win.”

David Montgomery, who was traded from Detroit this offseason, had a three-TD day in his Houston debut. He had scoring runs of 1 and 18 yards in the first half and his 7-yard touchdown reception put Houston up 28-27 early in the fourth.

Stroud threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns but lost two fumbles.

Tyler Bass' 33-yard field goal made it 30-28 Buffalo with 10 1/2 minutes to go.

Ka'imi Fairbairn’s 58-yard field goal put Houston back ahead with about seven minutes remaining before Allen’s game-winning drive.

Buffalo went up 10-7 when Allen scrambled for a 21-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.

Montgomery’s second score came when he scampered 18 yards untouched to make it 14-10 with about five minutes left in the first half.

Lassiter was flagged for pass interference on Moore in the end zone to give the Bills the ball on the 1 on their next drive. Allen’s scoring dive two plays later put Buffalo up 17-14.

Moore grabbed a ball in front of a diving Reed Blankenship and dashed 43 yards to the end zone later in the second to push the lead to 24-14.

A 12-yard touchdown reception by Nico Collins cut the lead to three at halftime.

Rousseau sacked Stroud on Houston’s first drive, causing a fumble that Ed Oliver recovered on the Houston 32. That led to Bass' 46-yard field goal.

A 1-yard run by Montgomery put the Texans up 7-3 near the end of the first quarter. The score was set up by a 25-yard reception by Collins three plays earlier.

Moore and Kincaid gave the Bills just the second game in franchise history where a tight end and a receiver both had 100 yards receiving. The first time it happened was when Andre Reed had 144 yards receiving and Pete Metzelaars added 122 in Week 2 of the 1992 season.

Brady raved about what Moore brings to the team.

“He opens it up for everybody,” Brady said. “He opens it up for Dalton Kincaid, for the run game and James Cook. He opens it up for Keon Coleman... and Josh Palmer. And then on big-play opportunities, he made them. We’re so much better with him.”

Houston LB Jake Hummel left in the second half with an abdominal injury.

Bills: Host Detroit on Thursday night in their first game at their new stadium.

Texans: Host Cincinnati next Sunday.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) calls the play during the second half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Houston Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter (3) breaks up a pass against the Buffalo Bills during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Joshua Palmer (5) runs the ball into the end zone for a touchdown past Houston Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter, right, during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Joshua Palmer runs the ball into the end zone for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) throws an incomplete pass forced by Houston Texans defensive end Danielle Hunter, second from left, during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

NEW YORK (AP) — Alexander Zverev's best year in tennis goes on, and so does that lengthy Grand Slam drought for American men.

Zverev won his second major championship and disappointed a crowd that was desperate to see the first Grand Slam title by an American man since 2003, beating Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 on Sunday in the U.S. Open final.

Zverev finally broke through in the majors by winning this year’s French Open and followed up by adding the title in New York that he so painfully let slip away in 2020.

The No. 1 seed in a Grand Slam for the first time, he capitalized on Shelton’s shaky start in his first major final, played a nearly flawless tiebreaker on serve and then turned back Shelton’s comeback attempt in front of a crowd that desperately cheered him on.

Shelton was trying to win the first title by an American man since Andy Roddick won in Flushing Meadows in 2003, as well as become the first Black player to win the men's crown since Arthur Ashe in 1968.

But Zverev was too good in majors this year and apparently didn't even know how good he was. He finished the match on his serve but didn't seem to realize it, dropping back behind the baseline as if set to return. Only a few moments later did he figure out he had won, raising his arms in celebration.

Zverev improved to 25-2 in major matches this year and won $5.5 million, matching the prize earned by women’s champion Elena Rybakina on Saturday as the largest in Grand Slam history.

He thought this title would come in 2020 and still acknowledges it should have. He won the first two sets against Dominic Thiem and got within two points of victory before becoming the first man to blow a two-set lead and lose in the final since 1949.

Whatever ghosts were left from then are long gone now.

Zverev also reached the final at Wimbledon, falling to Jannik Sinner, and became the No. 1 seed in New York when the top-ranked Sinner had to withdraw with a knee injury.

Shelton had already eliminated the defending champion when he beat Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set quarterfinal that ended at 3:33 a.m., the latest finish in U.S. Open history.

But he fell short on Sunday in his attempt to become the first man to beat the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds en route to the U.S. Open title since 1975.

The No. 8 seed fell to 0-6 against Zverev, winning a set Sunday for only the second time.

The 23-year-old Shelton figures to get more chances, but Americans who have grown tired of waiting to celebrate a men’s title wanted it now.

Fans stood and screamed when Shelton emerged from the tunnel before the match, but he didn’t give them any reason to keep the cheers going once play began. Serving first, he lost the opening two points and then eventually handed the game to Zverev with a double-fault.

Zverev maintained that lead the rest of the set, which ended on another double-fault by Shelton.

Zverev’s deliberate playing style helped limit the crowd’s effectiveness. Fans are expected to quiet down as a player is preparing to serve and stay quiet until the ensuing point has completed.

Zverev bounces the ball a number of times — sometimes around 10, maybe a dozen, others nearly 20, insisting there is no set pattern or plan — before he begins his toss, so it guarantees lengthy stretches of silence.

Fans tried to get around that by occasionally cheering when he missed a first serve — another tennis no-no that the chair umpire scolded them for — but Zverev, who said before the match he enjoyed hostile crowds, did not seem affected.

Zverev then turned back Shelton's chance to even the match in the tiebreaker.

Shelton returned Zverev’s opening serve long, was beaten by a superb passing shot and then came up on the wrong end of a 16-shot rally as Zverev went up 3-0. Zverev then hit serves of 147 mph and 124 mph that Shelton couldn’t get back in play. Shelton cut it to 5-2 and then got a return in play for the only time, but Zverev won the point and then hit another serve at 139 mph to close it out.

See AP’s full tennis coverage here

Alexander Zverev, of Germany, reaches to return the ball to Ben Shelton, of the United States, during the men's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ben Shelton, of the United States, returns the ball to Alexander Zverev, of Germany, during the men's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Ben Shelton, of the United States, spins his racket during the men's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships against Alexander Zverev, of Germany, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Alexander Zverev, of Germany, returns the ball to Ben Shelton, of the United States, during the men's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Alexander Zverev, of Germany, serves the ball to Karen Khachanov, of Russia, during the men's singles semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ben Shelton, of the United States, reacts after he won his match against Frances Tiafoe, of the United States, during the men's singles semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Alexander Zverev, of Germany, returns the ball to Karen Khachanov, of Russia, during the men's singles semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ben Shelton, of the United States, hits balls to audience after he won his match against Frances Tiafoe, of the United States, during the men's singles semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)