Very little went well for Josh Allen in a frustrating game on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback took back-to-back sacks on the team's final possession, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defense saved us a couple of times. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
It was difficult for Allen to get anything going on a night he was sacked a career-high eight times and hit four other times. Allen threw for 253 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they hit our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We need to improve our performance.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a couple personally. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. Another sack occurred when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson got up and pursued him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second straight game without receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the first series of a loss to New England in the fifth week after also being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We are taking it day by day,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that give us the best chance.”
Shakir led the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the situation and whatever circumstance, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
