Very little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
Allen endured consecutive sacks on the team's last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) gained 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst eight times and pressured four other times. The QB threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
Whenever they pressure our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a couple myself. I need to be better at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to lead the Texans. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and the defender got up and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup without receiver Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are taking it one day at a time,” 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 provide the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t make plays down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever situation and any circumstance, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
