Little went well for Josh Allen in a disappointing game Thursday night versus the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a win before an interception in the last moments sealed their fate in a close defeat.
The quarterback endured consecutive sacks on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a short pass from Josh Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a personal-worst eight times and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they hit our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it isn't a good way to keep our field general healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple myself. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half sacks to lead the Texans. Another sack came when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson got up and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
Buffalo played for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier held out for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We’re just taking it day by day,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are taking it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t make plays down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and any circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
