Little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing game on Thursday evening versus the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.
The quarterback endured consecutive sacks on the team's last drive, resulting in a long fourth down, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender picked off the quarterback's throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
Proved difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and hit four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It is not a safe way to play and it isn't a good way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We need to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup without receiver Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering 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 late for a meeting.
No change. We’re just taking it day by day,” McDermott said. “I felt 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 guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was frustrated that the team were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
In the end, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever scenario and any condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
