Very little went right for Josh Allen in a frustrating game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback took consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.
We possessed a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a good job of hanging tough and our defense saved us a couple of times. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for the signal-caller to get anything going on a night he was sacked a career-high eight times and hit four other times. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to compete and it isn't a smart way to preserve our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
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 fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few personally. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to lead the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender rose and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was previously held out for the first series of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after also being late for a team session.
No change. We’re just approaching it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a better week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the best chance.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the team couldn’t make plays down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the scenario and whatever condition, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
