Very little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a close loss.
Allen took consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, resulting in a long fourth down, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
After a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”
Proved tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four other times. Allen passed for 253 yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they pressure our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”
Allen was slow to get up after a tackle in the first half. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple personally. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 sacks to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly 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 force a punt in the third quarter.
Buffalo played for a second consecutive matchup without wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a loss to New England in Week 5 after additionally being late for a meeting.
No change. We’re just taking it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “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 players that give us the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was frustrated that the team couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever scenario and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
