Very little clicked for Josh Allen in a frustrating contest Thursday night against the Houston Texans.
And still 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 tackles for loss on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a short pass from Josh Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a chance to win it there at the end,” Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defense saved us a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved difficult for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they hit our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete and it’s not a smart way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple personally. I need to be better at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half sacks to lead the Texans. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson got up and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We are taking it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we went with the players that give us the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the team were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and any condition, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
