The Buffalo Bills take on the Houston Texans in Houston on Thursday night in game that's important for both teams. For Houston, it's about trying to catch up to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Wild Card race. For the Bills, it's about chasing down New England and trying to win the AFC East for the sixth straight year.

On this week's edition of the Bills Roundtable Podcast, Mike Straw and Anthony Moeglin talked about what the Bills need to do to avoid the loss, and keep their division hopes alive.

It's All About Getting A Win

"These, these Thursday night games are just win baby," Moeglin said. "Al Davis said it, but just when it doesn't have to look pretty, keep it very, very simple. A lot of those teams do that.

"They strip it all the way down and they just bring base, base packages, base schemes into these games because you don't have the time during the week to input a full game plan. You got to be, you got to be real. You strip it all the way down, and you got to execute the heck out of the play."

For Straw, it's all about getting James Cook going early. Against Tampa Bay, Cook did end up with 48 yards rushing on 16 carries along with 66 yards and a touchdown on three catches. However, many of his yards came in the fourth when the Bills were trying to put the game away. While that's always a good thing to get the yards you need in the clutch, against a stout defense like Houston, getting Cook going early will be key to getting the offense moving along throughout the game.

Defense Is Key

One thing that's for sure is that, despite the fact they are playing Davis Mills, the Bills defense has to step up. Running backs Woody Marks and Nick Chubb haven't had the type of season the Texans have hoped---they've combined for just 767 yards and four touchdowns on 198 carries. That said, they both have the ability to put up big numbers against a Bills defense that gives up the second-most rushing yards per game. 

For Buffalo to come out of Thursday with a win, it's going to take a game where the defense stays disciplined, stays in their gaps, and makes tackles on first contact.

It's certainly going to be an interesting game where anything can happen on Thursday. The Bills and Texans are scheduled to kick off at 8:15pm ET on Prime Video.