Very little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing game Thursday night against the Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Bills to a victory before an interception in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback endured consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.
After a false-start penalty created a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and pressured four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
Whenever they pressure our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to play and it isn't a smart way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We need to improve our performance.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the first half. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few myself. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was losing ground.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to top the Texans. Another sack occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson got up and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup without receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was late to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was earlier held out for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just taking it day by day,” the coach said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was frustrated that the team couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the situation and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
