Allen Sacked 8 Occasions as Late Interception Seals Fate of Bills in Defeat to Houston

Little went right for Josh Allen in a frustrating game on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.

And still he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.

The quarterback endured back-to-back sacks on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.

After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.

“We had a chance to win it there at the end,” Allen stated. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a couple of times. We’ve got figure it out, and we didn’t.”

Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four other times. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.

“When they hit our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it’s not a good way to keep our field general healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”

Allen was sluggish to get up after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was fine and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so frequently on Thursday.

It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple myself. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was going backwards.”

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

Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup without wideout 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 first series of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being late for a meeting.

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

Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.

The quarterback was disappointed that the Bills were unable to execute in crucial moments.

“Ultimately, we must execute, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever scenario and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”
Brian Murphy
Brian Murphy

Sports betting analyst with 10+ years experience, specializing in European football odds and data-driven predictions.