Josh Allen Taken Down Eight Occasions as Late Pickoff Dooms Bills in Loss to Houston
Very little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game on Thursday evening against the Texans.
And still he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.
Allen took back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
We possessed a chance to win it there at the end,” Allen stated. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We’ve got figure it out, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a career-high eight times and pressured four additional instances. Allen threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they hit our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it isn't a smart way to preserve our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”
Josh Allen was sluggish to get up after a sack in the first half. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a couple myself. I need to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was losing ground.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to top the Texans. Another sack occurred when he almost sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a team meeting before their last game. He was previously benched for the first series of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being late for a team session.
No change. We are approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that give us the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was frustrated that the team couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and any condition, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”