Little went well for Josh Allen in a disappointing contest Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to driving the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
Allen took back-to-back sacks on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
Proved difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four other times. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to play and it’s not a smart way to preserve our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was slow to get up after a tackle in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a couple myself. I need to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to top the Texans. His second one came when he almost sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo played for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was tardy to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was earlier held out for the first series of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are taking it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
Allen was disappointed that the Bills were unable to execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and any circumstance, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
