Very little clicked for Josh Allen in a tough contest on Thursday evening versus the Texans.
Yet he came close to willing the Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback endured back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a career-high eight times and pressured four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they hit our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to compete and it’s not a good way to preserve our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We need to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to get up after a tackle in the first half. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being contacted so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I ran into a few myself. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender got up and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a loss to New England in Week 5 after also being late for a team session.
No change. We’re just taking it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a better week, but we are handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we went with the players that give us the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was frustrated that the team couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever circumstance, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
