Very little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating contest on Thursday evening versus the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a close defeat.
Allen endured consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
We possessed a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a couple of times. We’ve got find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was difficult for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB passed for 253 yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six TDs in a win over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it isn't a good way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to get up after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple myself. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills played for a second straight game without receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late 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 additionally 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’re handling it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever condition, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
