Little went right for Josh Allen in a tough contest Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
Yet he came close to driving the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a close defeat.
Allen endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they pressure our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to compete and it’s not a good way to preserve our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to get up after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a few myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more 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 New England in Week 5 after also being late for a team session.
No change. We are taking it day by day,” the coach noted. “I thought he had a better week, but we are handling it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”
Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.
In the end, we must perform, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and any condition, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
