Very little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game Thursday night versus the Houston 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 close defeat.
The quarterback took consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was difficult for Allen to get anything going on a night he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it’s not a smart way to keep our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the first half. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I ran into a few personally. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to top the Texans. Another sack occurred when he almost sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender got up and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was again 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 Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We are approaching it one day at a time,” the coach 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 went with the guys that provide the optimal opportunity.”
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 were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
