Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game on Thursday evening against the Texans.
And still he came close to driving the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback endured back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. Allen threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a win over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete and it isn't a smart way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the first half. He said he was fine and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was going backwards.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to top the Texans. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson got up and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second straight game absent wideout Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously held out for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it day by day,” the coach said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we went with the players that provide the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team were unable to execute in crucial moments.
In the end, we must perform, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and any condition, we need to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
