Very little went well for Josh Allen in a disappointing contest Thursday night against the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a close 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 Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
After a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a career-high eight times and hit four other times. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
Whenever they hit our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it isn't a smart way to keep our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to get up after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being hit so many times during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a couple personally. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to lead the Texans. His second one came when he nearly 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 early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup without receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier benched for the first series of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a team session.
No change. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” 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 opted for the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the situation and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
