Very little went right for Josh Allen in a disappointing game on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to driving the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a close loss.
Allen endured back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved difficult for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four other times. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they hit our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it’s not a good way to preserve our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a few personally. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. Another sack occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson got up and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second straight game without receiver Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier benched for the first series of a loss to New England in the fifth week after additionally being late for a meeting.
No change. We’re just taking it one day at a time,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that provide the best chance.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills were unable to execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
