Little went well for Josh Allen in a tough game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a close defeat.
The quarterback took consecutive tackles for loss on the team's last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a short pass from Josh Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
“We had a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of hanging tough and our defense saved us a few instances. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
It was difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a career-high eight times and pressured four other times. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott said. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it’s not a good way to keep our field general healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to get up after a tackle in the first half. He said he was OK and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so frequently during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple personally. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier held out for the first series of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We are approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re taking it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the team were unable to execute in crucial moments.
In the end, we must perform, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the situation and any condition, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
