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Very little went right for Josh Allen in a tough game Thursday night against the Houston Texans.

And still 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.

Allen took consecutive tackles for loss on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.

After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds remaining.

“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen stated. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We’ve got find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”

Proved difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four other times. Allen passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay the previous week.

“When they pressure our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it isn't a good way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to improve our performance.”

Allen was sluggish to get up after a tackle in the first half. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell 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 couple myself. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”

Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he almost took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he wriggled away and the defender got up and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt early in the third.

Buffalo played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a team meeting before their last game. He was previously held out for the first series of a loss to New England in Week 5 after also being delayed for a meeting.

“Nothing new. We are taking it day by day,” the coach said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”

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

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

“Ultimately, we must execute, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and any circumstance, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”