Very little went right for Josh Allen in a frustrating game on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
Allen endured back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ last drive, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
After a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Allen stated. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defense saved us a couple of times. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
Proved difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and hit four other times. The QB passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six touchdowns 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 Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it isn't a smart way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to improve our performance.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a few personally. I need to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to top the Texans. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson rose and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We are taking it day by day,” the coach noted. “I thought he had a better week, but we are handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the team were unable to make plays down the stretch.
In the end, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the situation and any circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
