Little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a tough contest Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an interception in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
Allen took consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst eight times and pressured four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to compete and it’s not a good 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 opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so frequently during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple myself. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to top the Houston defense. Another sack occurred when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson got up and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup without wideout Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are taking it one day at a time,” the coach noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the players that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever situation and any circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
