Josh Allen Taken Down Eight Times as Late Interception Dooms Buffalo in Defeat to Texans

Little went well for Josh Allen in a tough contest Thursday night versus the Texans.

Yet he nearly managed to driving the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a close defeat.

Allen endured consecutive tackles for loss on the team's last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.

After a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with under half a minute left.

“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a couple of times. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”

Proved tough for the signal-caller to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers last week.

“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to compete and it isn't a good way to preserve our quarterback 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 OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday.

It's unpleasant,” he said. “I ran into a few myself. I need to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”

The Bills' QB lost 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to lead the Texans. Another sack occurred when he almost sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson got up and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.

Buffalo played for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after additionally being late for a meeting.

“Nothing new. We are approaching it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that provide the best chance.”

Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.

Allen was disappointed that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.

In the end, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the situation and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
Daniel Andrews
Daniel Andrews

Elena is a certified nutritionist and wellness coach with over a decade of experience in holistic health and sustainable living practices.