Very little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing game Thursday night against the Texans.
Yet he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback took back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
After a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got figure it out, and we didn’t.”
It was difficult for the signal-caller to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four other times. Allen passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
Whenever they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it isn't a smart way to preserve our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few personally. I need to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was going backwards.”
Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 sacks to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender got up and pursued him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
Buffalo played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier held out for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I thought 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 players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the team were unable to execute down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the scenario and whatever condition, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
