Allen Taken Down Eight Times as Final-Minute Interception Seals Fate of Bills in Defeat to Houston

Very little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing contest Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.

Yet he came close to driving the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a close loss.

The quarterback took back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.

Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.

We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a good job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”

Proved difficult for Allen to get anything going on a evening he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and hit four other times. The QB passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay last week.

“When they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it’s not a smart way to preserve our field general healthy for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”

Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was fine and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so many times on Thursday.

It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple myself. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was losing ground.”

The Bills' QB lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender 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 without receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being late for a team session.

No change. We’re just taking it day by day,” the coach said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we are taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we went with the players that provide the optimal opportunity.”

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

The quarterback was disappointed that the Bills were unable to execute down the stretch.

“Ultimately, we must perform, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever situation and whatever condition, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”