Allen Sacked 8 Occasions as Late Pickoff Dooms Buffalo in Loss to Texans

Very little clicked for Josh Allen in a frustrating contest Thursday night versus the Texans.

And still he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.

The quarterback endured consecutive sacks on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.

After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.

“We had a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defense saved us a couple of times. We’ve got find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”

It was difficult for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was brought down a career-high eight times and pressured four other times. Allen passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.

Whenever they pressure our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills 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 keep our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”

Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so many times on Thursday.

“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a couple myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”

Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson rose and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.

The Bills played for a second straight game without wideout Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier held out for the opening drive of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being late for a team session.

“Nothing new. We are approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re taking it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, 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 yards and a touchdown.

The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.

“Ultimately, we must execute, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and any condition, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”