Little went right for Josh Allen in a tough game Thursday night against the Houston Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a close defeat.
Allen endured consecutive tackles for loss on the team's last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Josh Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defense 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 other times. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they hit our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to compete and it isn't a smart way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”
Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a couple personally. I need to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was going backwards.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to lead the Texans. Another sack came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup without wideout Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just taking it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I thought 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 optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills were unable to execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
