Little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing contest on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
Allen endured consecutive sacks on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
After a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off the quarterback's throw at the 9-yard line with under half a minute left.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved difficult for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was brought down a career-high eight times and pressured four other times. Allen threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete and it’s not a smart way to keep our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Josh Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I ran into a couple personally. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 sacks to lead the Texans. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills competed for a second straight game without receiver Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a loss to New England in Week 5 after also being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it day by day,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
The quarterback was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he said. “No matter the scenario and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
