Little clicked for Josh Allen in a frustrating game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
Allen took back-to-back tackles for loss on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
After a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
“We had a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “We did 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 the signal-caller to get anything going on a night he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. Allen threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to compete and it isn't a smart way to keep our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was slow to get up after a sack in the first half. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 tackles for loss to top the Texans. His second one occurred when he almost took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We are approaching it day by day,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a better week, but we are taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that provide the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
In the end, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and any condition, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
