Very little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game Thursday night against the Houston 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 close defeat.
The quarterback took consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four other times. Allen threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they hit our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it isn't a good way to keep our field general healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was slow to get up after a tackle in the first half. He said he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a few personally. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 sacks to top the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the first series of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being late for a meeting.
No change. We’re just approaching it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a better week, but we are handling it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team were unable to execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever situation and whatever condition, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
