The Houston Texans sacked Josh Allen eight times as they found a 23-19 win over the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night.
Star quarterback Allen took consecutive sacks on the Bills’ final possession to fall short in Texas.
Davis Mills threw for 153 yards with two first-half TD passes to help the Texans (6-5) to their third straight victory with C.J. Stroud sidelined by a concussion. Houston moved above .500 for the first time this season.
Allen threw for 253 yards without a touchdown after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay last week. He was harassed all night, and the eight sacks were the most he’s taken in his career. Will Anderson Jr. had 2 1/2 sacks and Danielle Hunter had two.
“We had a chance to win it there at the end,” Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We’ve got to find a way to win, and we didn’t.”
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it’s not a good way to keep our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Allen was slow to get up after a sack in the first half. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so many times on Thursday.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was going backwards.”
The Bills are now 7-4 in the AFC East and second in their division behind a resurgent New England.
