Very little went well for Josh Allen in a tough contest on Thursday evening versus the Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback took consecutive sacks on the team's final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defense saved us a couple of times. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they hit our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it isn't a good way to keep our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I ran into a few personally. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was losing ground.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half sacks to top the Texans. Another sack came when he almost took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and the defender got up and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the first series of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We are taking it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that give us the best chance.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
