Little clicked for Josh Allen in a disappointing contest on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to driving the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a close defeat.
The quarterback endured back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
After a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.
“We had a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for Allen to get anything going on a night he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and hit four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they pressure our quarterback 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just 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 improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I ran into a few personally. I need to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half sacks to lead the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after additionally being late for a team session.
No change. We are approaching it day by day,” the coach said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are taking it one day at a time. 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 receptions for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills were unable to execute down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever situation and any circumstance, we need to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
