Josh Allen was sacked eight times as a late interception doomed the Bills to a loss to the Texans | NFL
It didn’t go well for Josh Allen in a frustrating game Thursday night against the Houston Texans.
However, he came close to clinching the win for the Buffalo Bills before a final-minute interception sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.
Allen had back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, leading to fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) gained 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to Josh Palmer, who threw a sideline ball to Khalil Shakir.
After a foul play penalty set up a fourth and sixth for Buffalo (7-4), Kalen Pulock picked off an Allen pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.
“We had a chance to win it there in the end,” Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and saved our defense a few times. We have to find a way, but we didn’t.”
It was hard for Allen to get anything going on a night when he was sacked for a career-high eight times and scored four more. Allen threw for 253 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after scoring six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay last week.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like it,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like those stats at all. It’s not a healthy way to play and it’s not a good way to keep our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We have to play better.”
Allen was slow to get up after getting a sack in the first half. He said he was fine and that his left shoulder “got a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit several times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I’ve faced a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. A lot of times, I’ve been falling backwards.”
Allen lost 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had 2 1/2 sacks to lead the Texans. His second came when he nearly took down Allen near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and chased him across the field to take him down for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third period.
The Bills played for the second straight game without receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after being late to a team meeting before the last game. He was previously benched for the first series loss to New England in Week 5 after also being late to the meeting.
“Nothing new. We’re taking it day by day,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a better week, but we’re taking it day by day. “It wasn’t something that wasn’t thought out, but we went with the people that gave us the best chance.”
Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t make plays down the stretch.
“At the end of the day, we have to execute, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever the situation, whatever the circumstances, we have to find a way, and we haven’t done that.”