Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing contest Thursday night against the Houston Texans.
Yet he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback endured consecutive sacks on the team's final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.
We possessed a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of hanging tough and our defense saved us a few instances. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved difficult for the signal-caller to get anything going on a evening he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and hit four other times. Allen threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they pressure our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete and it isn't a good way to keep our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I ran into a couple myself. I need to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender got up and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after also being late for a meeting.
No change. We are taking it day by day,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”
Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 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 failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
