Allen Sacked Eight Times as Final-Minute Interception Seals Fate of Bills in Defeat to Texans

Very little went right for Josh Allen in a frustrating contest on Thursday evening against the Texans.

And still he came close to driving the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a close loss.

Allen endured back-to-back sacks on the team's final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.

Following a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.

We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a good job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”

It was tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst eight times and pressured four other times. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.

Whenever they pressure our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it’s not a good way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to improve our performance.”

Josh Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the first half. He said he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.

“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a few myself. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was going backwards.”

Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Texans. Another sack came when he almost sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson rose and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third.

The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a team meeting before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a loss to New England in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a team session.

No change. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re taking it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”

Shakir led the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.

Allen was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.

“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever situation and whatever condition, we need to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”
Adrian Dixon
Adrian Dixon

A tech journalist and digital strategist with over a decade of experience covering UK tech ecosystems and startup innovations.

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