Very little went right for Josh Allen in a disappointing game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a close loss.
Allen endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Allen said. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was difficult for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was brought down a career-high eight times and pressured four other times. The QB passed for 253 yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six TDs in a win over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it’s not a good way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to get up after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a couple personally. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo played for a second consecutive matchup 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 previously benched for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being late for a team session.
No change. We’re just taking it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re taking it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
Allen was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
