Little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing game on Thursday evening against the Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.
Allen endured back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.
Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.
“We had 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 personal-worst eight times and hit four other times. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers last week.
Whenever they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart way to preserve our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We need to improve our performance.”
Allen was sluggish to get up after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned 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 throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”
The Bills' QB lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Texans. His second one occurred when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson rose and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup without receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the first series of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being delayed for a team session.
“Nothing new. We are taking it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a better week, but we’re taking it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever scenario and any condition, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”
