The dreams and hopes of an entire organization and fan base hung in the balance Thursday night as Josh Allen hit the ground hard following a vicious tackle from behind.
Allen kicked his feet, appearing in clear pain while teammates and eventually members of the training staff gathered around him.
The reigning MVP eventually walked it off and did not miss any time, but that play served as an omen for the remainder of the road game vs. the Texans.
Houston ultimately sacked Allen a career-high eight times in its 23-19 upset of the Bills, providing a stern notice to the Bills about how fast things will go awry if they cannot protect their star better.
“When they hit the quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that, I don’t like that stat at all,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “It’s not a healthy way to play or a healthy way to keep our quarterback healthy through the remainder of the season. That’s just not a good formula right there.”
Any chances the Bills have of ending their Super Bowl drought begins and ends with their MVP quarterback, who elevates a relatively average group of playmakers around him.
Buffalo had done a decent job of protecting him this season entering the game, allowing just 20 sacks through 10 games, but the Bills’ hog mollies no-showed Thursday.
Josh Allen is checked on during the loss. AP
A ferocious pass rush harassed Allen all night, resulting in a zero-touchdown, two-interception night from the ex-Wyoming standout.
The scariest moment came on the aforementioned play when Will Anderson hit Allen from behind on a third-and-6 with Buffalo leading, 6-3.
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Anderson drove Allen into the ground, with Allen landing on his hands while hitting the ground hard. He said he landed on his left shoulder and it went “a little numb on me.”
“It’s not fun,” Allen said. “I ran into a couple (of sacks) myself, I got to be better with throwing the ball away and living to see another down and letting us play some situational football and pinning them deep. Too many times I was going backwards and gotta be better on that.”
Josh Allen is hit hard by Will Anderson Jr. AP
Whether that play affected Allen for the rest of the game is only known by the quarterback, but he had an uncharacteristic showing, completing just 24-of-34 passes for 253 yards and rushing for only 20 yards.
He threw an interception on 4th-and-6 at the Houston 22-yard line with 24 seconds remaining to end Buffalo’s chance of a come-from-behind win.
That poor showing severely hampers he Bills’ chances of winning the division for a sixth straight season since they now sit two games behind the Patriots in the AFC East, and New England has the tiebreaker.
The Bills sit in the sixth spot in a crowded AFC playoff picture.
“They wanted it today,” Allen said. “We had a chance to win it there at the end and got to find a way.”