Very little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game Thursday night against the Houston Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
Allen endured consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
After a false-start penalty created a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got figure it out, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for the signal-caller to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they hit our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it isn't a smart way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so frequently during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he almost took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender rose and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just taking it day by day,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re taking it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.
In the end, we’ve got execute, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever situation and whatever condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
