Josh Allen Sacked Eight Times as Late Interception Dooms Bills in Defeat to Houston

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

Yet he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a close defeat.

Allen endured consecutive sacks on the team's final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.

After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.

“We had a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defense saved us 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 eight times and pressured four other times. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.

“When they hit our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to compete and it isn't a good way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”

Josh Allen was slow to rise 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 contacted so frequently on Thursday.

It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple personally. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”

The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Texans. His second one occurred when he almost sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender rose and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.

The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a meeting.

No change. We are approaching it day by day,” the coach said. “I felt he had a better week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that give us the best chance.”

Shakir led the Bills with eight catches for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.

Allen was disappointed that the team couldn’t make plays down the stretch.

“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the scenario and whatever condition, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”
Zachary Woods Jr.
Zachary Woods Jr.

Elara Vance is a technology strategist with over a decade of experience in IT consulting and digital transformation, specializing in cloud solutions and cybersecurity.