Little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing game on Thursday evening against the Texans.
Yet he came close to willing the Bills to a win before an interception in the last moments ended their hopes in a close defeat.
The quarterback took consecutive sacks on the team's last drive, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was difficult for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and hit four other times. Allen threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they pressure our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it isn't a good way to preserve our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Allen was slow to get up after a sack in the first half. He said he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to top the Texans. His second one came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt early in the third.
Buffalo played for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a loss to New England in the fifth week after also being delayed for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We are approaching it day by day,” the coach noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are handling it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
The quarterback was disappointed that the team couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
In the end, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever scenario and whatever circumstance, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
