Very little went right for Josh Allen in a tough contest on Thursday evening versus the Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.
Allen endured back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they hit our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it’s not a smart way to keep our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. 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 fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few myself. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to top the Texans. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup without receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a loss to New England in the fifth week after also being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just taking it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re handling it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with the players that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and whatever condition, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
