Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.
And still he came close to driving the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
Allen took back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a long fourth down, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.
Following a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.
“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Allen said. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defense saved us a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.
Whenever they hit our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to compete and it’s not a good way to keep our field general healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so frequently 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. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to top the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills played for a second straight game absent receiver Keon 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 first series of a loss to New England in the fifth week after additionally being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re just taking it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that give us the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.
Allen was disappointed that the team couldn’t execute in crucial moments.
In the end, we must perform, and we didn’t succeed of that this evening,” he said. “No matter the situation and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
