Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Bills to a win before an interception in the last moments sealed their fate in a close defeat.
Allen took back-to-back sacks on the team's last drive, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
After a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for the signal-caller to get anything going on a night he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and pressured four other times. The QB passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory 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 disapprove of that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it’s not a smart way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so many times during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple personally. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 sacks to top the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson rose and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo played for a second straight game without receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after also being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We are approaching it day by day,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that provide the best chance.”
Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team couldn’t make plays down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and whatever condition, we need to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
