Josh Allen Sacked 8 Times as Final-Minute Pickoff Dooms Buffalo in Defeat to Houston
Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing contest on Thursday evening versus the Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a victory before an interception in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
Allen endured back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a long fourth down, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a couple of times. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was difficult for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four other times. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers the previous week.
Whenever they pressure our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it isn't a good way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”
Josh Allen was slow to get up after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so many times during the game.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a couple personally. I need to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo competed for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a loss to New England in the fifth week after additionally being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are handling it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we didn’t succeed of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever situation and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”