Little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game Thursday night versus the Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an interception in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
Allen took back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's last drive, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) gained significant yardage 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-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with under half a minute remaining.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a career-high eight times and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they hit our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our field general healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was fine 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 not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few myself. I need to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Texans. Another sack occurred when he almost sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson 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 played for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a team meeting before their last game. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after additionally being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We are approaching it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I felt he had a better week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the team were unable to execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and any circumstance, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
