Little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
Allen endured consecutive sacks on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a couple of times. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for Allen to get anything going on a night he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four other times. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they pressure our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete and it’s not a good way to keep our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half sacks to lead the Houston defense. Another sack occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second straight game absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it day by day,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team were unable to execute in crucial moments.
In the end, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
