Very little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game Thursday night versus the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback endured back-to-back sacks on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with under half a minute left.
“We had a chance to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defense saved us a few instances. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was difficult for Allen to get anything going on a night he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four other times. Allen threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.
Whenever they hit our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it isn't a smart way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We need to play better.”
Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple myself. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half sacks to top the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup without receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a loss to New England in the fifth week after also being late for a meeting.
No change. We’re just approaching it day by day,” the coach said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
In the end, we must execute, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and any condition, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
