Very little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a tough contest Thursday night versus the Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback endured back-to-back sacks on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defense saved us a few instances. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a safe way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We need to improve our performance.”
Allen was slow to get up after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few personally. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to lead the Texans. Another sack came when he almost sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and pursued him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was tardy to a team meeting before their last game. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a loss to New England in the fifth week after also being delayed for a meeting.
No change. We are approaching it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that provide the best chance.”
Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team couldn’t 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 any condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
