Very little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing contest Thursday night against the Houston 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 loss.
Allen endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a short pass from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they hit 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 safe way to compete and it’s not a smart way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We need to improve our performance.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the first half. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being contacted so many times during the game.
It's unpleasant,” 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 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to lead the Texans. His second one came when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and the defender got up and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup without wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being late for a meeting.
No change. We are approaching it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the Bills were unable to execute in crucial moments.
In the end, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
