Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game Thursday night versus the Texans.
And still he came close to driving the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an interception in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.
Allen endured consecutive tackles for loss on the team's last drive, resulting in a long fourth down, but Buffalo (7-4) gained 44 yards on a short pass from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six TDs in a win over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they pressure our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it’s not a smart 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 first half. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple myself. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 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 pursued him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in 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 team meeting before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We are approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a better 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 players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the team couldn’t make plays down the stretch.
In the end, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the scenario and any condition, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
