Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) is sacked by Houston Texans defensive tackle Mario Edwards Jr., rear, in the second half of an NFL football game Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)
Associated Press
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was pressured like he never has been before in his career in a 23-19 road loss to the Houston Texans on Thursday night.
How Allen Fared Against Tough Texans Defense
Allen was sacked eight times, the most in his career. In all, Allen was 24-of-34 for 253 yards with two interceptions. This is just the second time in the 2025 season that Allen hasn’t thrown for a touchdown.
After the loss, Allen was asked how it felt being under duress throughout the game and being sacked eight times.
“It’s not fun, I ran into a couple myself,” Allen said. “I gotta be better with throwing the ball away and living to see another down and letting us playing some situational football and pinning them deep. Too many times I was going backwards, and I gotta get better on that.”
Bills head coach Sean McDermott expressed frustration with Allen being hit 12 times during the game.
“I don’t like that. I don’t like that stat at all,” McDermott said. “It’s not a healthy way of playing or a healthy way of keeping our quarterback healthy for the remainder of the season. It’s just not a good formula right there.”
The Bills scored just three points in the second half and look like an offense with multiple issues at the moment.
Bills Have Eyes On Improving
Allen said he’s “good” despite the hard hits, but isn’t making any excuses after the loss, saying “We got to play better.”
“We gotta execute and we didn’t do a good enough job of that tonight,” Allen said. Whatever situation, whatever circumstance, we gotta put our head down and find a way there and on the field we didn’t.”
Bills offensive tackle Dion Dawkins said it was a “tough day” seeing Allen absorb so many hits and that it’s like seeing a brother get hit.
“It sucks, man,” Dawkins said. “It sucks. Hate losing. We’re a good team, though. I feel our best day’s yet to come.”
Despite a rough game that drops the Bills to 7-4 and down to the No. 6-seed in the AFC playoff race, McDermott isn’t hitting the panic button.
“We’ve gotta stay in this thing. We grind and we grind it out. This is what you do. You compete, this is what you signed up for. This is what you do,” McDermott said. “The effort, the will the guys have, I don’t question that one bit.”
While Allen and the Bills are used to grinding things out and coming out on the winning side, the offense has major issues to correct in their final six games. This is the first time the Bills have had three or more turnovers in three straight games in one season since 2006. However, McDermott is confident the Bills will bounce back from the loss.
“We fight, that’s what we do,” McDermott said. “We fight, we battle, and we push forward.”
What’s Next For The Bills
Next up for the Bills is a road game against the 6-4 Pittsburgh Steelers on November 30. Buffalo has now lost two of its last three games and are two games behind the 9-2 New England Patriots in the AFC East. The Bills have won the division the past five seasons, a streak that could be in jeopardy if they don’t get back to their winning ways.