Very little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating contest Thursday night against the Houston Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
Allen took consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) 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-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four other times. Allen threw for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it’s not a good way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks 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 the defender rose and pursued 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 without wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a team meeting before their last game. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being late for a meeting.
No change. We are approaching it one day at a time,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was frustrated that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we didn’t succeed of that this evening,” he said. “No matter the situation and whatever condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
