Little clicked for Josh Allen in a disappointing contest Thursday night against the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a close defeat.
Allen endured consecutive sacks on the team's last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and hit four other times. Allen passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a win over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they hit our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack 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 asked about being hit so many times during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple personally. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was 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 almost sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson got up and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Keon 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 first series of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” 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 opted for the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills were unable to execute down the stretch.
In the end, we must perform, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the situation and any condition, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
