Little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing game Thursday night versus the Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.
Allen endured consecutive sacks on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with under half a minute remaining.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down 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 TDs in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they pressure our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to compete and it isn't a good way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I ran into a few personally. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Texans. Another sack occurred when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson rose and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a team meeting before their last game. He was earlier held out for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just taking it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a better week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the best chance.”
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 couldn’t execute down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever condition, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
