Very little clicked for Josh Allen in a tough game on Thursday evening against the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute 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) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. The QB passed 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 pressure our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We need to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to get up 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 awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I ran into a few personally. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was going backwards.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Texans. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender rose and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the first series of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We are approaching it day by day,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a better week, but we are handling it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir led the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the team couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we didn’t succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
