Little went right for Josh Allen in a disappointing game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to driving the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback endured consecutive sacks on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the end,” Allen said. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defense saved us a few instances. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they hit our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete and it’s not a smart way to keep our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so many times during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a few myself. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half sacks to top the Texans. Another sack occurred when he almost took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second straight game absent wideout Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously held out for the first series of a loss to New England in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we went with the guys that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t execute down the stretch.
In the end, we must perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and any condition, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
