Very little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing contest on Thursday evening versus the Texans.
And still he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback endured consecutive sacks on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defense saved us a couple of times. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and pressured four other times. Allen threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they hit our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Allen was slow to rise after a tackle 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 contacted so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a few myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to top the Texans. Another sack came when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second straight game absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was tardy to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was earlier held out for the opening drive of a loss to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We are approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a better week, but we are taking it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with the players that provide the best chance.”
Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
In the end, we must perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
