Little went right for Josh Allen in a disappointing game Thursday night against the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
Allen endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, leading to a long fourth down, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw 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, a Texans defender picked off Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a good job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We’ve got figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a career-high eight times and hit four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
Whenever they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it’s not a smart way to keep our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple personally. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half sacks to top the Texans. His second one occurred when he almost sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson rose and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup without 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 loss to New England in the fifth week after additionally being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re taking it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the team were unable to execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever situation and whatever condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
