🔗 Share this article

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

Yet he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.

The quarterback took consecutive sacks on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.

After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with under half a minute remaining.

We possessed a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Allen stated. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out 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 additional instances. Allen threw for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.

“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to play and it isn't a smart way to preserve our quarterback in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”

Josh Allen was sluggish to get up after a tackle in the first half. He said 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 contacted so many times during the game.

It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a couple myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”

Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to top the Texans. Another sack occurred when he nearly took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.

Buffalo played for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was previously held out for the first series of a loss to New England in the fifth week after additionally being late for a team session.

“Nothing new. We are taking it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the players that give us the optimal opportunity.”

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

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

In the end, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the situation and whatever condition, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we came up short.”