Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a tough contest Thursday night against the Houston Texans.
And still he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a close defeat.
Allen endured back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (with seven wins) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.
After a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
Proved difficult for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a career-high eight times and hit four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they hit our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it’s not a smart way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”
Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so frequently during the game.
“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I ran into a few myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half sacks to top the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender rose and pursued him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt early in the third.
The Bills competed for a second straight game absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was tardy to a team meeting before their last game. He was previously held out 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 said. “I thought he had a better week, but we’re handling it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with the guys that provide the best chance.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the Bills were unable to execute in crucial moments.
In the end, we must execute, and we didn’t succeed of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever situation and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
