Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.
And still he nearly managed to driving the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an interception in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
Allen took back-to-back sacks on the team's last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's throw at the 9-yard line with under half a minute left.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for the signal-caller to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four other times. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they hit our QB a dozen 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’s not a good way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We need to improve our performance.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
It's unpleasant,” he said. “I ran into a few personally. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup without receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously held out for the first series of a loss to New England in the fifth week after additionally being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are approaching it day by day,” the coach noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Khalil Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback was disappointed that the Bills were unable to make plays 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 came up short.”
