Very little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a tough contest on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to driving the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a close defeat.
Allen took consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with under half a minute left.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defense saved us a couple of times. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they pressure our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a safe way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the first half. He said he was fine and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being hit so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half sacks to lead the Texans. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and pursued him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second straight game absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a team meeting before their last game. He was earlier held out for the opening drive of a loss to New England in Week 5 after also being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We are taking it day by day,” the coach said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the players that give us the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the team were unable to make plays down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and whatever condition, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
