Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback took back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender picked off the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and hit four other times. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they hit our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to compete and it’s not a good way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We need to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to get up after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few myself. I need to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup without receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We are taking it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re taking it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever scenario and whatever condition, we need to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
