Very little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing game on Thursday evening versus the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback endured consecutive tackles for loss on the team's last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.
We possessed a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six TDs in a win over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they pressure our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to compete and it’s not a smart way to keep our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so many times during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few myself. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to top the Texans. Another sack occurred when he almost took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson rose and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
Buffalo played for a second straight game without receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being late for a meeting.
No change. We’re just taking it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the team were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and whatever circumstance, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
