Very little went right for Josh Allen in a tough game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an interception in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback took back-to-back sacks on the team's last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with under half a minute remaining.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “Our team performed a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We’ve got find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved tough for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they pressure our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it’s not a smart way to keep our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was fine and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson rose and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was tardy to a team meeting before their last game. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a loss to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a team session.
No change. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that provide the best chance.”
Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team were unable to make plays down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the situation and any condition, we need to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
