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Very little went well for Josh Allen in a disappointing game on Thursday evening versus the Houston Texans.

Yet he nearly managed to driving the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a close defeat.

The quarterback took consecutive tackles for loss on the team's last drive, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.

Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.

“We had a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a couple of times. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”

Proved difficult for the signal-caller to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a career-high on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay last week.

“When they pressure our quarterback 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it’s not a good way to keep our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”

Josh Allen was slow to rise after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was OK 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 not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few myself. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself going backwards.”

The Bills' QB lost 70 total 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 took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson got up and chased him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt early in the third.

The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late 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 also being late for a meeting.

No change. We’re just taking it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re taking it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the optimal opportunity.”

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

Allen was disappointed that the team couldn’t make plays down the stretch.

“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we didn’t succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and any condition, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”