Very little clicked for Josh Allen in a frustrating game on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a close defeat.
The quarterback endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (with seven wins) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a chance to win it there at the end,” Allen said. “Our team performed a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved tough for the signal-caller to get anything going on a night he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they pressure our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a safe way to play and it’s not a smart way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a few myself. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to top the Texans. Another sack occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson rose and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second straight game absent wideout Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being delayed for a team session.
No change. We are approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we went with the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he said. “No matter the situation and any circumstance, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
