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Little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game on Thursday evening versus the Texans.

And still he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.

The quarterback took consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to Khalil Shakir.

Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.

“We had a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We’ve got figure it out, and we didn’t.”

Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four other times. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.

“When they pressure our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete and it’s not a good way to preserve our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”

Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday.

It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a couple personally. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was going backwards.”

The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson rose and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.

The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup without wideout Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier held out for the first series of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after additionally being late for a team session.

“Nothing new. We are approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a better week, but we are taking it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the players that give us the best chance.”

Khalil Shakir led the Bills with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.

Allen was disappointed that the Bills were unable to make plays down the stretch.

In the end, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever circumstance, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”