Little clicked for Josh Allen in a frustrating contest Thursday night versus the Texans.
And still he nearly managed to driving the Buffalo Bills to a win before an interception in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
Allen endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved difficult for the signal-caller to get anything going on a night he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and pressured four other times. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six TDs in a win over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they hit our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it isn't a good way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”
Josh Allen was slow to get up after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Texans. Another sack occurred when he almost sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender rose and pursued him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills competed for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the first series of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We are approaching it one day at a time,” the coach noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are taking it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that give us the best chance.”
Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t make plays down the stretch.
In the end, we’ve got perform, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever situation and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
