Very little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing contest on Thursday evening versus the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Buffalo Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback endured consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a short pass from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
“We had a chance to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for 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 Sean McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to compete and it isn't a smart way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We need to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a tackle 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 frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Texans. His second one came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson got up and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second straight game without wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more 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 loss to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are taking it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are handling it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
Allen was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and any condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
