🔗 Share this article

Very little went well for Josh Allen in a disappointing game Thursday night against the Houston Texans.

And still he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a close defeat.

The quarterback took consecutive sacks on the team's final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but Buffalo (7-4) gained 44 yards on a short pass from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.

Following a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.

“We had a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”

It was tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. Allen threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers the previous week.

Whenever they hit our quarterback a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete and it isn't a good way to keep our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”

Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so many times on Thursday.

“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a few personally. I need to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”

Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and the defender got up and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.

The Bills played for a second straight game absent wideout Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after additionally being late for a meeting.

No change. We are taking it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the best chance.”

Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a score.

The quarterback was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.

“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever situation and whatever condition, we need to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”