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Little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.

Yet he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.

Allen took back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, resulting in a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) gained 44 yards on a short pass from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.

Following a false-start penalty created a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, Calen Bullock picked off Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with under half a minute left.

“We had a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defense saved us a few instances. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”

It was tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a career-high eight times and hit four other times. Allen passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.

Whenever they hit our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head 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 in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to improve our performance.”

Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the first half. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so many times on Thursday.

It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few myself. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself going backwards.”

Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half sacks to top the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson rose and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.

The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Keon Coleman after he was again a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously benched for the first series of a loss to New England in the fifth week after also being delayed for a meeting.

“Nothing new. We are taking it day by day,” the coach noted. “I thought he had a better week, but we’re handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the optimal opportunity.”

Shakir topped the Bills with eight catches for 110 receiving yards and James Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.

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

In the end, we must execute, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he said. “Whatever situation and any condition, we need to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”