Very little went right for Josh Allen in a tough game on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to driving the Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback took consecutive sacks on the team's last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.
“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB threw for 253 yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they pressure our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to compete and it isn't a smart way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the first half. He said he was fine and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a couple myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was going backwards.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and the defender got up and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second straight game without receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a team meeting before their last game. He was earlier benched for the first series of a loss to New England in Week 5 after also being late for a meeting.
No change. We are taking it day by day,” the coach said. “I thought he had a better week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that provide the best chance.”
Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was frustrated that the team were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he said. “No matter the situation and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
