Little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game Thursday night versus the Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Bills to a win before an interception in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback endured consecutive tackles for loss on the team's final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.
“We had a chance to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a good job of hanging tough and our defense saved us a few instances. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. Allen threw for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
Whenever they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to play and it’s not a smart way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We need to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a few personally. I need to be better at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he almost sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson rose and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup without wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was tardy to a team meeting before their last game. He was earlier held out for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just taking it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”
Shakir led the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the team were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
In the end, we’ve got perform, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and any circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
