Allen Sacked 8 Times as Late Pickoff Seals Fate of Buffalo in Defeat to Texans

Very little went right for Josh Allen in a disappointing contest Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.

And still he came close to driving the Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.

Allen took back-to-back sacks on the team's last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.

After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.

“We had a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”

Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst eight times and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.

Whenever they pressure our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it’s not a good way to keep our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”

Josh Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the first half. He indicated 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 hit so frequently on Thursday.

It's unpleasant,” he said. “I ran into a couple myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was losing ground.”

The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Texans. Another sack came when he almost sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson got up and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.

The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup without receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously held out for the first series of a loss to New England in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a meeting.

“Nothing new. We are taking it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re handling it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that give us the best chance.”

Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.

The quarterback was disappointed that the team couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.

“Ultimately, we must perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever scenario and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
Amanda Santana
Amanda Santana

Lena Visser is a Dutch new media artist specializing in interactive installations that blend wave patterns with audiovisual technology.