Very little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game on Thursday evening versus the Texans.
And still he came close to driving the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a close defeat.
Allen endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Josh Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender picked off Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the end,” Allen said. “Our team performed a solid job of hanging tough and our defense saved us a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for the signal-caller to get anything going on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst eight times and hit four other times. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they hit our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “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 field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I need to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was going backwards.”
Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Texans. His second one occurred when he nearly took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson rose and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo competed for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier held out for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being late for a team session.
No change. We’re just approaching it day by day,” the coach said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are taking it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the players that provide the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
The quarterback was frustrated that the team were unable to make plays down the stretch.
In the end, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
