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Very little went well for Josh Allen in a frustrating game on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.

Yet he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.

Allen endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.

Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.

“We had a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We’ve got figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”

Proved difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.

“When they pressure our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it’s not a smart way to keep our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”

Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being hit so many times during the game.

“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a few personally. I need to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”

The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to top the Texans. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender rose and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.

The Bills played for a second straight game absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously benched for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being delayed for a meeting.

No change. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a better week, but we’re taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the optimal opportunity.”

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

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

In the end, we must execute, and we didn’t succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever circumstance, we need to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”