Little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a tough contest Thursday night against the Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a close defeat.
Allen took consecutive tackles for loss on the team's final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We’ve got find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they pressure our quarterback 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it’s not a good way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We need to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the first half. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being hit so many times on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple myself. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson rose and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo played for a second straight game absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a loss to New England in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it day by day,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that give us the best chance.”
Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
In the end, we must execute, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and any condition, we need to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
