Little went right for Josh Allen in a disappointing contest Thursday night versus the Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback endured consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off the quarterback'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 said. “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 unfortunately we failed.”
Proved difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB passed for 253 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they hit our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it isn't a good way to preserve our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”
Josh Allen was slow to get up after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple personally. I need to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 sacks to top the Houston defense. His second one came when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second straight game without wideout Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a loss to New England in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just taking it day by day,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a better week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the players that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the team were unable to execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever situation and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
