Little went right for Josh Allen in a frustrating game on Thursday evening versus the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback endured consecutive sacks on the team's last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defense 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 sacked a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four other times. The QB threw for 253 yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they pressure our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it’s not a smart way to preserve our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We need 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 shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” 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 2.5 sacks to lead the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson rose and pursued him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills competed for a second straight game without receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a team meeting before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a loss to New England in the fifth week after additionally being late for a meeting.
No change. We are approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are handling it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t make plays down the stretch.
In the end, we’ve got perform, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever condition, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
