Josh Allen Sacked Eight Times as Late Pickoff Seals Fate of Bills in Loss to Texans

Little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game on Thursday evening versus the Texans.

Yet he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an interception in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.

Allen took back-to-back tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.

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

We possessed a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”

It was difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four other times. Allen threw for 253 yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.

Whenever they hit our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to compete and it’s not a good way to keep our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”

Allen was sluggish to get up 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 awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so frequently on Thursday.

It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a few personally. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”

Allen lost 70 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 nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.

The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Coleman after he was again 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 New England in Week 5 after additionally being late for a team session.

No change. We’re just taking it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that give us the optimal opportunity.”

Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.

The quarterback was disappointed that the team couldn’t execute down the stretch.

In the end, we must perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he said. “No matter the situation and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”
Paul Thomas
Paul Thomas

A seasoned casino analyst with over a decade of experience in slot game reviews and gambling industry trends.