Very little went well for Josh Allen in a disappointing contest on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.
Yet he came close to willing the Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a close defeat.
Allen took 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 significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender picked off the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a good job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm 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 a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they pressure our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a safe way to play and it’s not a smart way to keep our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We need to play better.”
Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated 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 encountered a couple personally. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to lead the Texans. Another sack occurred when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills played for a second straight game without receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier held out for the first series of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after additionally being late for a team session.
No change. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” the coach noted. “I thought he had a better week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the players that provide the best chance.”
Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team were unable to execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and any circumstance, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
