Josh Allen Taken Down Eight Times as Final-Minute Interception Dooms Bills in Loss to Houston
Very little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback endured consecutive sacks on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they pressure our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it’s not a smart way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We need to improve our performance.”
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 contacted so frequently on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a couple personally. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to top the Texans. Another sack occurred when he almost sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson rose and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second straight game without wideout Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a better week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was frustrated that the team were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
In the end, we must execute, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever scenario and whatever circumstance, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”