Josh Allen Sacked Eight Times as Final-Minute Interception Seals Fate of Bills in Loss to Houston

Little clicked for Josh Allen in a frustrating contest on Thursday evening versus the Texans.

Yet he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.

The quarterback took back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.

Following a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.

“We had a chance to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”

Proved tough for the signal-caller to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.

Whenever they pressure our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it’s not a good way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”

Josh Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times during the game.

“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple myself. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”

The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to top the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt early in the third.

The Bills competed for a second straight game without receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a team meeting before their last game. He was previously benched for the first series of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being late for a meeting.

No change. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re taking it step by step. It wasn’t 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 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a score.

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

In the end, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the situation and whatever condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”
Sean Hart
Sean Hart

A tech strategist with over a decade of experience in digital transformation and cybersecurity, passionate about empowering businesses through innovation.