🔗 Share this article Allen Sacked Eight Times as Final-Minute Pickoff Dooms Buffalo in Defeat to Houston Very little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing game Thursday night versus the Texans. Yet he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a close loss. The quarterback endured back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate. After a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender picked off the quarterback's throw at the Houston 9 with 24 seconds left. We possessed a chance to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen stated. “Our team performed a good job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.” It was difficult for Allen to get anything going on a night he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four other times. Allen threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week. “When they hit our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a healthy way to compete and it isn't a smart way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.” Allen was slow to get up after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being contacted so many times on Thursday. It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple personally. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.” Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss to top the Texans. Another sack came when he almost sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter. The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched 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 said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are handling it step by step. It was not 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 yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown. The quarterback was disappointed that the team were unable to make plays down the stretch. “Ultimately, we must perform, and we didn’t succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever circumstance, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”