ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Deer season in Texas begins next month for bowhunters, in November for everybody else.Josh Allen season will be held Sunday in Reliant Stadium.Can the Houston Texans bag him again?“They got after us last year,” the Buffalo Bills’ franchise quarterback said. “There’s no secret about it.”Buffalo is trying to reestablish itself as the AFC team to catch. Its five-year division title streak was snapped. Sean McDermott was fired.Now first-year head coach Joe Brady will make his debut in a locale where Allen never has won and against a hungry foe.Will the Bills surpass the Patriots in the AFC East?Joe Buscaglia“Their defense is easily the top defense in the NFL in my opinion,” Bills right tackle Spencer Brown said, “the way they fly around and really chase the ball, the secondary, how they cover, and they got $80 million tied up in pass-rush guys.”The Texans went big-game hunting last year and couldn’t have been more thrilled in a 23-19 victory.Houston took Allen down for eight sacks, hit him four other times and pressured him on 44 percent of his pass attempts despite mostly sending just four defenders. He threw two interceptions. Brown and left tackle Dion Dawkins suffered injuries that sidelined them the next game, too.Edge rushers Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter combined for 12 tackles, 4 1/2 sacks, six quarterback hits and a pass breakup. On one Anderson sack late in the first quarter, Allen kicked his feet in agony and later revealed the hit made his left arm go numb. Two other Texans defenders recorded two tackles for losses apiece.“We just had the energy all week long,” Anderson said after the game, “like, ‘Man, we’ve got to go hunt. We’ve got to be relentless. No matter what you got going on, no matter how you feeling, bro, there’s no weak links out there on the field. You want a piece of the gazelle? You’ve got to go hunt for the gazelle.’”Buffalo is expecting no safer environment this time, either. Houston’s defense might be better this year.The Texans return a core of eight starters for a third straight season. Cornerbacks Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter and nickelback Jalen Pitre are perhaps the NFL’s top trio. The Texans added Philadelphia Eagles free-agent safety Reed Blankenship (to play alongside Calen Bullock) and three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney.Buffalo will have its hands full.“That might be my least favorite thing to see is Josh on the ground,” Bills tight end and captain Dawson Knox said, “especially when you’re blocking the guy that tackled him, but that is extra motivation. We want to keep him clean. We want to say there was zero sacks throughout the game, but also it’s just the nature of the NFL. Those guys are incredible as well.”The Texans’ defense was so dominant last year that it didn’t need much help. Journeyman backup quarterback Davis Mills started for the injured C.J. Stroud. Mills’ competency was enough – even as Bills running back James Cook ran 17 times for 116 yards and a touchdown.Allen has played some of his worst games in Houston. In four games there, Allen has completed 53 percent of his passes for 732 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions, two fumbles and 14 sacks.“Every game has its own flow, got your own situations that you’ve got to handle and take care of,” Allen said. “They’ve had some really good defenses in the past, and it’s no different now.“But, obviously, I want to go out there and want to play the best that I can play and want to help our team win a football game. That’s all that it comes down to, whether it’s me completing 30 balls or handing it off 40 times. Whatever it takes for us to win this game is what I’m willing to do. They’re going to make it tough for us.”The Bills can find solace in how they responded to last year’s savagery.One week later, with Alec Anderson and Ryan Van Demark starting at tackle for Brown and Dawkins, the offensive line blanked Pittsburgh Steelers demons T.J. Watt, Nick Herbig, Cameron Heyward and Alex Highsmith. Allen was hit once, sacked zero times in a 26-7 victory.The Bills that night showed the previous week in Houston wasn’t them.“We’re going to be the Buffalo Bills,” said Anderson, now the starting left guard. “We’re going to do what we want, whether that be run the ball or pass the ball. We might just choose to run the f— out of the ball.“That will define our season, that we have our Weapon-X, and that’s Josh Allen, but you don’t want to use your weapon every single play. Why not use another weapon like James Cook? It will be a great year to really put an entire offense together.”Buffalo added receiver DJ Moore this offseason, and for last year’s trip to Houston the Bills didn’t have tight end Dalton Kincaid, who was hurt. The injury report looks encouraging for the opener, with only running back Ty Johnson and defensive back Jordan Hancock not practicing Wednesday.The extra offensive help will be welcome as Allen tries to conquer what has been an unbeatable host.The Bills are trying not to put too much emphasis, though, on not turning the season opener into open season.“I’m sure if we lose, ‘The season’s over; the Bills are a bust,’” Brown said. “And I’m sure if we win, ‘We’re going to the Super Bowl,’ and our Super Bowl odds go up to plus-5000.”