Little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game on Thursday evening against the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a close loss.
Allen took back-to-back sacks on the team's last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with under half a minute remaining.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the end,” Allen said. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers the previous week.
“When they hit our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart 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 sack in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half sacks to top the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt early in the third.
Buffalo played for a second straight game without receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier benched for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are taking it one day at a time,” the coach noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with the guys that provide the best chance.”
Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was frustrated that the team couldn’t execute down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the scenario and any condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
