Allen Taken Down 8 Occasions as Late Interception Seals Fate of Buffalo in Defeat to Texans
Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating contest on Thursday evening versus the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback took back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
After a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a chance to come out on top there at the end,” Allen stated. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defense saved us a couple of times. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
Proved difficult for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and hit four other times. The QB threw for 253 yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six TDs in a win over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few personally. I need to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he almost took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender got up and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after additionally being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are taking it day by day,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that give us the best chance.”
Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the team couldn’t execute down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever scenario and whatever circumstance, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”