Very little went right for Josh Allen in a disappointing game on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback endured consecutive tackles for loss on the team's last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (with seven wins) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to compete and it isn't a good way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple personally. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half sacks to top the Texans. Another sack occurred when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson rose and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills played for a second straight game without receiver Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a team meeting before their last game. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are approaching it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I thought he had a better week, but we’re taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.
In the end, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and whatever condition, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”