Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing contest on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a close loss.
Allen endured back-to-back sacks on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Allen said. “Our team performed a solid job of hanging tough and our defense saved us a few instances. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst eight times and pressured four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay last 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 statistic at all. It is not a safe way to play and it isn't a good way to keep our field general 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 first half. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”
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 occurred when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a loss to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a team session.
No change. We are taking it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills were unable to execute down the stretch.
In the end, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the situation and any condition, we need to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
