Very little went right for Josh Allen in a disappointing game on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback endured back-to-back sacks on the team's last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with under half a minute left.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a couple of times. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for Allen to get anything going on a night he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. Allen threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it isn't a good way to keep our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We need to improve our performance.”
Allen was sluggish to get up after a sack in the first half. He said he was OK and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being contacted so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a few myself. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he almost sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo competed for a second straight game absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a team meeting before their last game. He was earlier benched for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We are taking it one day at a time,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the players that give us the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team couldn’t execute down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and any condition, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
