Little went right for Josh Allen in a frustrating game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a close defeat.
Allen took consecutive sacks on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (with seven wins) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a chance to win it there at the end,” Allen stated. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defense saved us a few instances. We’ve got figure it out, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four other times. The QB threw for 253 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they pressure our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it isn't a good way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself 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 scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second straight game absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch 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 also being late 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 was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the best chance.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
Allen was disappointed that the Bills were unable to make plays down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever scenario and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
