Very little went right for Josh Allen in a tough contest on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a close loss.
Allen took consecutive sacks on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defense saved us a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB threw for 253 yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
Whenever they pressure our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to compete and it’s not a good way to keep our field general healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to get up after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson rose and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second straight game without receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after additionally being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just taking it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I felt he had a better week, but we are taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever situation and whatever condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
