Little clicked for Josh Allen in a tough game on Thursday evening against the Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a close defeat.
The quarterback took consecutive tackles for loss on the team's final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a chance to win it there at the end,” Allen said. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a career-high eight times and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our field general healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so many times during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple personally. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Texans. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and pursued him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second straight game without wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just taking it one day at a time,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the best chance.”
Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
