Little went right for Josh Allen in a disappointing game Thursday night versus the Texans.
Yet he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a close defeat.
Allen endured consecutive tackles for loss on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.
We possessed a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Allen said. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a career-high eight times and pressured four other times. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they pressure our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it isn't a good way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was slow to get up after a sack in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a few myself. I need to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. Another sack came when he almost took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson rose and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills played for a second straight game without receiver Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a loss to New England in the fifth week after also being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We’re just taking it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we went with the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil 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 execute down the stretch.
In the end, we’ve got execute, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the situation and any condition, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
