Very little went right for Josh Allen in a frustrating contest on Thursday evening against the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
Allen took consecutive tackles for loss on the team's last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a short pass from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “Our team performed a good job of hanging tough and our defense saved us a few instances. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for the signal-caller to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
Whenever they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to compete 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 tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a couple myself. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half sacks to lead the Texans. Another sack occurred when he almost took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second straight game without wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant 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 New England in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We are taking it day by day,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we went with the guys that provide the best chance.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
Allen was disappointed that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
In the end, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever circumstance, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
