The Buffalo Bills have been to the playoffs four straight seasons.
The first year of this streak was 2019 and they faced the Houston Texans in the AFC wild-card. The Texans prevailed 22-19 as second-year quarterback Josh Allen sought his first career playoff win. Houston was clearly ahead of Buffalo developmentally.
Fast forward to January 2023 and it is the Texans who are having to learn what the Bills do great in order to get out of their rebuild.
Buffalo held down home field and beat the Miami Dolphins 34-31 Sunday in the AFC wild-card. Here are four lessons the Texans can learn from the Bills.
Get a WR1
No matter the general manager, part of the Texans’ approach since the trading of DeAndre Hopkins in the 2020 offseason has been to platoon it with an assortment of second and third receivers to provide an assortment of options for Houston quarterbacks. While Brandin Cooks has delivered with two 1,000-yard seasons in his three years with the Texans, Houston doesn’t have a wideout that commands attention.
At least, not the way Stefon Diggs does. The Bills acquired Diggs in the 2020 offseason and he has delivered with at least 1,200 yards and eight touchdowns per season. In big moments, such as Sunday afternoon, Diggs caught seven passes for 114 yards. The Texans need a receiver who can open up opportunities for others and also deliver when called upon.
Create a no-fly zone
Buffalo has safeties who can impact the passing game in Jordan Poyer and Kaiir Elam. Naturally Tre’Davious White is a household name for the Bills, but cornerback Taron Johnson generated seven tackles for loss, a quarterback hit, a tackle for loss, and a pass breakup against the Dolphins.
Houston appears to be on target to replicate the Bills’ secondary in some measure. The Texans used a first-round pick on cornerback Derek Stingley and a second-rounder on safety Jalen Pitre, both of whom performed exceptionally in their rookie seasons. Houston may need to bring in another top-100 pick at cornerback or safety to create their own no-fly zone.
Develop your guy at QB
Part of the reason why Houston is a half-bubble off center is because of their risk-adverse investment at quarterback. It is understandable. Why waste even more draft capital in a year depleted of top-100 picks to move up to take what was leftover once the Jacksonville Jaguars took Trevor Lawrence? In 2022, why take a quarterback when there were no strong candidates when presumably better ones would be available in 2023?
The Bills could have used a quarterback in 2017 to replace Tyrod Taylor eventually. In fact, they picked Nathan Peterman in the fifth round who did exactly that. However, when Peterman had reached his ceiling, they weren’t afraid to get a first-round quarterback the next draft, even though they were coming off their first playoff appearance since 2000. Four playoff appearances, four postseason wins, and an AFC Championship Game appearance over five seasons later, and it is safe to say Buffalo made the right call investing in Josh Allen.
Coaching matters
Sean McDermott had a great coaching pedigree. McDermott was with the Eagles in a variety of roles, mostly on defense, from 1999-2009 under coach Andy Reid. The William & Mary product took over as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator for two seasons after the death of Jim Johnson in the middle of 2009. McDermott also was Ron Rivera’s defensive coordinator with the Carolina Panthers from 2011-16, and was key to their dominant defense in 2015, which made Super Bowl 50.
Houston is on their third coaching search in as many offseasons under general manager Nick Caserio. The Texans have to identify a coach who has been around other great coaches in his career. Furthermore they have to leave him alone to install his system, which may be a conglomerate of all of his coaching influences. It may not result in a playoff berth immediately as it did for McDermott in his first year, but the foundation will be in place to regularly appear in the tournament.
