Very little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing contest Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a victory before an interception in the last moments sealed their fate in a close defeat.
Allen took consecutive sacks on the team's last drive, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the end,” Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved difficult for the signal-caller to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four other times. Allen threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they pressure our quarterback 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart way to preserve our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. Another sack came when he almost sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the first series of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after additionally being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are taking it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a better week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the players that provide the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the team couldn’t execute down the stretch.
In the end, we must execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the scenario and whatever condition, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
