Little clicked for Josh Allen in a frustrating contest on Thursday evening against 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 23-19 loss.
Allen endured back-to-back sacks on the team's last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (with seven wins) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
After a false-start penalty created a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.
“We had a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a good job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to compete and it isn't a good way to keep our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We need to improve our performance.”
Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a few myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. Another sack occurred when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and the defender got up and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier held out for the first series of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a team session.
No change. We are taking it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that provide the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t make plays down the stretch.
In the end, we must execute, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
