Very little went well for Josh Allen in a tough game Thursday night versus the Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a close defeat.
The quarterback endured consecutive sacks on the team's last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but Buffalo (7-4) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Josh Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender picked off the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and pressured four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they hit our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to compete and it isn't a good way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to get up after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half sacks to top the Texans. His second one came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender 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 competed for a second consecutive matchup without wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a team meeting before their last game. He was previously benched for the first series of a loss to New England in the fifth week after also being delayed for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are taking it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the team couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and whatever condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
