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

And still 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.

The quarterback took back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.

After a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.

“We had a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “Our team performed 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.”

It was difficult for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a career-high eight times and pressured four other times. 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.

Whenever they pressure our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it isn't a good way to preserve our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”

Allen was sluggish to get up after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so many times during the game.

“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few personally. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”

The Bills' QB surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to lead the Texans. His second one came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.

Buffalo played for a second straight game without receiver Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously held out for the first series of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being late for a team session.

“Nothing new. We are taking it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a better week, but we’re taking it step by step. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”

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

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

“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever scenario and any condition, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”