Very little went right for Josh Allen in a tough game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a close defeat.
The quarterback endured consecutive sacks on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
After a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with under half a minute remaining.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defense saved us a couple of times. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for Allen to get anything going on a night he was sacked a career-high eight times and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they pressure our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it isn't a good way to preserve our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was slow to get up after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Texans. His second one occurred when he almost sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson rose and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo played for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We are taking it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I thought 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 provide the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
The quarterback was frustrated that the team were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
In the end, we must execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and any condition, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
