Little went right for Josh Allen in a tough game Thursday night versus the Texans.
Yet he came close to willing the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
Allen endured consecutive sacks on the team's last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) gained 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the end,” Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of hanging tough and our defense saved us a couple of times. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and hit four additional instances. Allen threw for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six TDs in a win over the Buccaneers last week.
Whenever they hit our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it’s not a smart way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was slow to get up after a sack in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple personally. I need to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Texans. Another sack occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we went with the guys that provide the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the team were unable to make plays down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and any condition, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
