Little went right for Josh Allen in a tough game Thursday night against the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Bills to a victory before an interception in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.
Allen endured consecutive sacks on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a career-high eight times and hit four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
Whenever they pressure our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It is 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 play better.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was losing ground.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to top the Texans. His second one came when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in 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 held out for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are taking it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that provide the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills were unable to make plays down the stretch.
In the end, we must execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever scenario and whatever condition, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
