Very little clicked for Josh Allen in a tough game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
Yet he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an interception in the last moments ended their hopes in a close loss.
The quarterback took back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “Our team performed 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 difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it isn't a good way to keep our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the first half. He said he was fine and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few myself. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 sacks to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second straight game without wideout 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 defeat to New England in Week 5 after additionally being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We are approaching it day by day,” the coach said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are taking it step by step. It wasn’t 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 James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
In the end, we must perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and any circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
