Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game Thursday night against the Texans.
And still he nearly managed to driving the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a close defeat.
The quarterback took consecutive sacks on the team's last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's throw at the 9-yard line with under half a minute left.
“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was difficult for Allen to get anything going on a night he was brought down a career-high eight times and pressured four other times. Allen passed for 253 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.
Whenever they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It is not a safe way to play and it’s not a smart way to keep our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Allen was sluggish to get up after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. Another sack occurred when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson rose and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a loss to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are taking it one day at a time,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a better week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
Allen was frustrated that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we didn’t succeed of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever situation and whatever circumstance, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
