🔗 Share this article

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

Yet he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.

The quarterback took consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.

Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.

“We had a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”

Proved difficult for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was brought down a career-high eight times and hit four other times. The QB threw for 253 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.

“When they pressure our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it isn't a smart way to keep our field general healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”

Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.

“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a few myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was losing ground.”

Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to top the Texans. His second one came when he nearly took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.

The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup without receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a team meeting before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a loss to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being late for a meeting.

“Nothing new. We’re just taking it one day at a time,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re taking it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with the players that give us the best chance.”

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

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

In the end, we must execute, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever scenario and whatever circumstance, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”