Little went right for Josh Allen in a frustrating game Thursday night against the Houston Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
Allen 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 quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s pass 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 good job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We’ve got figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they pressure our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it isn't a smart way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a couple myself. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half sacks to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson rose and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second straight game without wideout Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t make plays down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we didn’t succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and any condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
