Very little went right for Josh Allen in a tough contest on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a close defeat.
Allen took back-to-back sacks on the team's last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We’ve got figure it out, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for the signal-caller to get anything going on a night he was brought down a personal-worst eight times and hit four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete and it’s not a smart way to keep our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We need to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so many times during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier held out for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We’re just taking it day by day,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.
In the end, we must perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he said. “No matter the situation and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
