Little went right for Josh Allen in a disappointing contest Thursday night against the Houston Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.
Allen endured back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Josh Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.
After a false-start penalty created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender picked off the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was difficult for the signal-caller to get anything going on a night he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and hit four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they pressure our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it isn't a good way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. 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 left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple personally. I need to be better at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 sacks to lead the Texans. His second one occurred when he nearly took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and chased 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 receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously held out for the first series of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just taking it day by day,” the coach said. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever situation and any condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
