Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game Thursday night against the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a close loss.
Allen endured consecutive tackles for loss on the team's final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty created a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was difficult for the signal-caller to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and pressured four additional instances. Allen threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they hit our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We need to improve our performance.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being contacted so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half sacks to lead the Texans. His second one came when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the first series of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We are taking it day by day,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t execute down the stretch.
In the end, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
