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Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.

Yet he came close to driving the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a close loss.

The quarterback endured back-to-back sacks on the team's last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.

Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left.

“We had a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”

It was difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers last week.

Whenever they pressure our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it isn't a good way to keep our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”

Allen was sluggish 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 fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times during the game.

It's unpleasant,” he said. “I ran into a few myself. I need to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”

The Bills' QB lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half sacks to top the Houston defense. Another sack occurred when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and pursued him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.

The Bills competed for a second straight game without wideout Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being late for a team session.

“Nothing new. We are approaching it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that provide the best chance.”

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

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

“Ultimately, we must perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he said. “No matter the situation and any circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”