Very little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing contest on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.
Yet he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an interception in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback took back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
After a false-start penalty created a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed 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 Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a career-high eight times and pressured four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
Whenever they hit our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to compete and it isn't a good way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”
Josh Allen was slow to get up after a tackle in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple myself. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to lead the Texans. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson rose and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo competed for a second straight game absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are taking it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we went with the players that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
Allen was disappointed that the team couldn’t execute down the stretch.
In the end, we must execute, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever scenario and any condition, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
