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

Yet he came close to driving the Bills to a victory before an interception in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.

The quarterback endured consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.

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

“We had a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defense saved us a couple of times. We’ve got find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”

It was tough for the signal-caller to get anything going on a night he was brought down a career-high eight times and hit four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.

Whenever they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We need to improve our performance.”

Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being hit so many times on Thursday.

“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a couple myself. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was going backwards.”

Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Texans. His second one came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, 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 played 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 previous contest. He was earlier held out for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being delayed for a meeting.

“Nothing new. We are approaching it day by day,” the coach said. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”

Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.

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

“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we failed to 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.”