Very little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing contest on Thursday evening versus the Texans.
Yet he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a close loss.
Allen endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst eight times and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they pressure our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a safe 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 play better.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the first half. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so many times during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a few personally. I need to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup without wideout Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re handling it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t execute down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever condition, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
