Very little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a tough contest Thursday night versus the Texans.
And still he nearly managed to driving the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback took back-to-back tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (with seven wins) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough 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 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they hit our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to compete and it isn't a smart way to keep our field general healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the first half. He said he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to top the Texans. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a loss to New England in Week 5 after additionally being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just taking it day by day,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t 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 James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the team couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever situation and any circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
