Very little went right for Josh Allen in a tough game Thursday night against the Texans.
And still he came close to driving the Bills to a win before an interception in the last moments sealed their fate in a close defeat.
Allen endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was difficult for Allen to get anything going on a night he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and pressured four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
Whenever they pressure our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it isn't a good way to preserve our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to get up after a sack in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being hit so frequently during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the first series of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We’re just approaching it day by day,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are taking it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that provide the best chance.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was disappointed that the Bills were unable to make plays down the stretch.
In the end, we must execute, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and whatever circumstance, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
