Little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating contest Thursday night versus the Texans.
And still he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a close defeat.
Allen endured consecutive tackles for loss on the team's final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.
After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”
It was tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a personal-worst eight times and hit four other times. The QB passed for 253 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they pressure our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to compete and it isn't a smart way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”
Allen was slow to get up after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple personally. I need to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. Another sack occurred when he almost took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson got up and pursued him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills played for a second straight game without receiver Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a team meeting before their last game. He was previously held out for the first series of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being late for a meeting.
“Nothing new. We are approaching it day by day,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we went with the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”
Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.
Allen was disappointed that the team were unable to execute in crucial moments.
“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and any condition, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
