Little went well for Josh Allen in a frustrating game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback endured consecutive tackles for loss on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a good job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for Allen to get anything going on a night he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
Whenever they hit our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete 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.”
Allen was slow to get up after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I ran into a few myself. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson 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 absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was tardy to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it day by day,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with the guys that give us the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the team couldn’t make plays down the stretch.
In the end, we’ve got perform, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and whatever condition, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
