Little went right for Josh Allen in a disappointing contest on Thursday evening against the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a close loss.
Allen endured back-to-back sacks on the team's final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a career-high eight times and pressured four other times. Allen threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
Whenever they hit our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete and it’s not a good way to keep our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to get up after a tackle in the first half. He said he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being contacted so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender got up and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup without receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the first series of a loss 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 better week, but we are taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was frustrated that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he said. “No matter the scenario and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
