Little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing game on Thursday evening against the Texans.
And still he came close to driving the Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a close loss.
The quarterback endured back-to-back sacks on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's throw at the 9-yard line with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a couple of times. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”
Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.
“When they pressure our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “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 field general healthy for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”
Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the first half. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few myself. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after additionally being late for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are approaching it day by day,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with the guys that give us the best chance.”
Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the team couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
In the end, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and whatever condition, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
