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

Little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game Thursday night against the Texans.

Yet he came close to driving the Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a 23-19 defeat.

Allen endured back-to-back sacks on the team's final possession, leading to a long fourth down, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.

Following a false-start penalty created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted the quarterback's pass at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.

“We had a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit bailed us out a couple of times. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”

Proved difficult for Allen to get anything going on a night he was brought down a personal-worst eight times and pressured four additional instances. Allen threw for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after producing six TDs in a victory over the Buccaneers the previous week.

“When they pressure our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to play and it’s not a good way to keep our quarterback healthy for the remaining games. We’ve got to improve our performance.”

Josh Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so many times during the game.

It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple myself. I need to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”

Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.

The Bills competed for a second straight game absent receiver Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier held out for the first series of a defeat to New England in the fifth week after also being late for a meeting.

No change. We are approaching it one day at a time,” the coach noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we went with the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”

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

The quarterback was disappointed that the team were unable to execute in crucial moments.

“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever situation and whatever circumstance, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”