Very little went right for Josh Allen in a frustrating game on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback took consecutive sacks on the team's last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four other times. Allen passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
Whenever they hit our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to get up after a tackle in the first half. He said he was fine and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a couple myself. I need to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was going backwards.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second straight game without wideout Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier held out for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just taking it day by day,” the coach noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was disappointed that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
In the end, we’ve got execute, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
