Very little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing contest Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.
Yet he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.
The quarterback endured consecutive sacks on the team's last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.
Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender picked off Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.
“We had a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”
It was tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four other times. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers last week.
“When they pressure our quarterback 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to compete and it isn't a smart way to preserve our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We need to improve our performance.”
Allen was slow to get up after a sack in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”
Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to top the Houston defense. Another sack came when he almost took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.
The Bills played for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the first series of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being late for a team session.
No change. We’re just approaching it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the players that give us the best chance.”
Khalil Shakir topped 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 execute down the stretch.
“Ultimately, we must execute, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever scenario and any condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
