🔗 Share this article

Very little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing game on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.

And still he nearly managed to driving the Bills to a victory before an interception in the last moments ended their hopes in a close loss.

Allen took back-to-back tackles for loss on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.

Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute left.

We possessed a chance to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must figure it out, 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 hit four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.

“When they hit our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it isn't a good way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to improve our performance.”

Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the first half. He indicated he was fine and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being hit so frequently during the game.

“It’s not fun,” he said. “I encountered a couple personally. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was losing ground.”

Allen lost 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 sacks to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and the defender rose and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.

Buffalo competed for a second straight game absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a team meeting before their last game. He was earlier held out for the first series of a defeat to the Patriots in Week 5 after additionally being late for a meeting.

“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”

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

Allen was frustrated that the Bills were unable to make plays in crucial moments.

In the end, we’ve got perform, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever scenario and whatever condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”