🔗 Share this article

Little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating contest on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.

And still he came close to driving the Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a close loss.

Allen endured consecutive sacks on the Bills’ last drive, resulting in a long fourth down, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.

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

We possessed a chance to win it there at the end,” Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”

Proved difficult for Allen to get anything going on a night he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.

“When they hit our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach 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 preserve our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”

Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently during the game.

It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”

The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.

The Bills competed for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the first series of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being late for a team session.

No change. We are taking it day by day,” the coach said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”

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

Allen was disappointed that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.

In the end, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the scenario and whatever condition, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”