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

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

Allen took consecutive sacks on the Bills’ last drive, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.

After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.

“We had a chance to come out on top there at the end,” Allen said. “Our team performed a good job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”

Proved tough for the signal-caller to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a career-high eight times and pressured four other times. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.

“When they hit our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just 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 need to play better.”

Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so frequently during the game.

It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few myself. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”

Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he almost sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson rose and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.

Buffalo competed for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was tardy to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the first series of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being late for a team session.

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

Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.

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

In the end, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and any circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”