Bills vs. Texans: Breaking Down Buffalo's Game Plan

The Buffalo Bills will hit the road in Week 4 and meet up with the Houston Texans in a battle of 2-1 teams. Both squads sit in first place in their respective divisions, and both will be looking to rebound from their first loss of the season in Week 3.

In addition, players and coaches on both teams are very familiar with each other. Head coaches Doug Marrone and Bill O'Brien have known each other since they were both starting out on the staff at Georgia Tech. O'Brien's quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, is also familiar with Buffalo. The last time the Bills started 2-0 (in 2011), Fitzpatrick was under center.

Some of the holdovers on the Bills roster from Fitz's time still speak highly of their former teammate. Via Joe Buscaglia of WGR 550, both Kyle Williams and Fred Jackson said Fitzpatrick is one of their favorite teammates they have ever had. But this week, they will be on opposite sides fighting for a victory.

So what do the Bills have to do to bring a W back from Texas? Let's take a look at their game plan heading into Week 4.

Slow Down You-Know-Who

To have success against the Texans defense, you have to attempt to neutralize J.J. Watt. Named the 2012 Defensive Player of the Year, Watt can single-handedly wreck a game for the opposing offense. He can get after the quarterback, help in run support and get up and bat passes down at the line of scrimmage. If Watt wreaks havoc on the Bills, their offense will have another long day.

So just how do you go about slowing down one of the league's premiere defensive players? Marrone discussed it in his press conference Wednesday, via Matthew Fairburn of Syracuse.com.

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I think they do a very good job moving him around, so you can’t really get a scheme and scheme it up to say, ‘OK, every time we line up like this, he’s going to be here.’ I think everyone is going to have to pull their share. Everyone is going to piece of him somewhere along the line.

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Since Watt lines up all over the formation, no one player is going to be tasked with stopping him every play. Not many players can stop Watt one-on-one consistently anyway. The Bills will have to send the offensive line help and chip Watt like they did against Cameron Wake and the Dolphins.

When left tackle Cordy Glenn faces off with Watt, he has to be better than he was against the Chargers. Glenn is one of the best young tackles in the league, but he had a tough day against San Diego in Week 3.

If the Bills can minimize the Watt factor, the offense will have a much easier time moving the ball.

Control the Run Game

We all know the Bills want to rely on their running game on offense. The matchup with the Texans provides a good opportunity for the Bills to move the ball on the ground.

Through three games, the Texans are one of the league's worst at stopping the run. Houston gave up 5.2 yards per carry in the first three games, which is tied for the second-worst total in the NFL. If the Bills can have success on the ground, they can limit the burden on EJ Manuel to try and win the game with his arm.

Conversely, the Bills have been adept at stopping the run early on this season. Buffalo has only given up 84.7 yards a game on the ground, which is good for sixth in the league. The Bills also have allowed just 3.3 yards per carry, which is also sixth-best overall. Expect to see another heavy dose of C.J. Spiller and Jackson in Houston. If the Bills can get Spiller in space and allow him to make defenders miss, they will have an even easier time moving the ball.

Get the Best Corner on Andre Johnson

For clarification, the best corner for the Bills so far has been Corey Graham. We broke down the success Graham has had earlier this week, so the Bills would be smart to get Graham on the field more often. Marrone talked about the Graham situation during his press conference.

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Can he go out there on the field first? Yes, but, like I said before, we feel that we have three guys that can start. He’s a cross training guy for us, meaning that he’s cross training with the secondary at the safety position. We’ve got to be careful because he also plays teams for us. Like I said, in a perfect world, thought it was a little bit off last week, if it’s 33.3 percent then that’s exactly what we’re looking for.

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The 33.3 percent Marrone is referring to is the snap-count breakdown among Graham, Stephon Gilmore and Leodis McKelvin. But the fact of the matter is Graham is far and away the team's best player at the position, so he deserves most of the snaps.

Like Watt on defense, the Texans have a potential game-changer on offense in Andre Johnson. The veteran wideout is a potential future Hall of Famer, and he can work from the slot or the outside and give defenses headaches.

Marrone called Johnson a "fearless type of player" and said that "he is really good at running inside." If the Bills want to limit Johnson's effectiveness, they should have Graham follow Johnson wherever he lines up in the formation.