Very little went well for Josh Allen in a frustrating contest on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a close loss.
The quarterback endured consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a couple of times. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and hit four other times. Allen passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it isn't a good way to preserve our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We need to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Texans. Another sack came when he almost sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup without receiver Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the first series of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after additionally being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with 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.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
In the end, we must execute, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and whatever condition, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
