Very little went well for Josh Allen in a tough game on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a close loss.
The quarterback endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
“We had a chance to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. Allen threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a safe way to play and it isn't a good way to preserve our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I ran into a few personally. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Texans. Another sack occurred when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson rose and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier benched for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being late for a meeting.
No change. We are approaching it day by day,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the team couldn’t make plays down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and any circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
