Very little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing game on Thursday evening against 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 took back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
After a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.
We possessed a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Allen stated. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defense saved us a couple of times. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a career-high eight times and hit four other times. The QB threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete and it’s not a smart way to keep our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We need to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the first half. He said he was OK and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he almost sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson rose and pursued him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second straight game absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We are taking it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t execute down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and whatever circumstance, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
