Little went well for Josh Allen in a frustrating contest Thursday night against the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a close loss.
Allen took back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but Buffalo (7-4) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defense saved us a few instances. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a career-high eight times and hit four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
Whenever they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it’s not a smart way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We need to play better.”
Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson got up and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup without wideout Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier held out for the first series of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being delayed for a team session.
No change. We are taking it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”
Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Allen was frustrated that the Bills were unable to execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the scenario and whatever circumstance, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
