Very little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing game Thursday night against the Texans.
And still he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a close defeat.
The quarterback endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, resulting in a long fourth down, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender picked off Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “Our team performed a good job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and hit four other times. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.
Whenever they hit our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to play and it isn't a smart way to preserve our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We need to improve our performance.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to top the Texans. His second one came when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed 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 previous contest. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it day by day,” the coach said. “I thought he had a better week, but we’re handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the players that provide the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team were unable to execute down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and any circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
