Very little went right for Josh Allen in a tough game on Thursday evening against the Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an interception in the last moments sealed their fate in a close loss.
The quarterback endured consecutive tackles for loss on the team's last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with under half a minute left.
We possessed a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
It was difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a personal-worst eight times and hit four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they hit our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head 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 smart way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was sluggish 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 in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple personally. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was going backwards.”
Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to top the Houston defense. Another sack occurred when he almost sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson rose and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second straight game without wideout Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a loss to New England in Week 5 after also being delayed for a team session.
No change. We’re just approaching it day by day,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
In the end, we must perform, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and any condition, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
