Allen Taken Down 8 Occasions as Final-Minute Pickoff Seals Fate of Bills in Defeat to Houston

Very little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating contest on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.

And still he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.

The quarterback endured consecutive tackles for loss on the team's last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a lateral to Khalil Shakir.

After a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.

We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”

It was difficult for the signal-caller to get anything going on a night he was brought down a career-high eight times and hit four other times. Allen passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.

Whenever they pressure our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to compete and it isn't a good way to preserve our field general healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”

Josh Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so many times during the game.

It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”

The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Texans. His second one came when he almost sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.

The Bills played for a second straight game 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 previously held out for the first series of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a team session.

No change. We’re just taking it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a better week, but we are handling it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the players that provide the best chance.”

Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.

The quarterback was disappointed that the Bills were unable to execute in crucial moments.

“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and any condition, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
Taylor Ballard
Taylor Ballard

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