Josh Allen Sacked 8 Occasions as Final-Minute Pickoff Seals Fate of Buffalo in Loss to Texans

Very little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing contest on Thursday evening against the Texans.

And still 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 loss.

Allen endured back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a lateral to another teammate.

After a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth down situation for the Bills, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's throw at the 9-yard line with under half a minute remaining.

We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”

Proved difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was sacked a career-high eight times and pressured four additional instances. Allen passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers last week.

“When they pressure our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It is not a safe way to compete and it isn't a smart way to keep our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to improve our performance.”

Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so many times on Thursday.

“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few personally. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was going backwards.”

The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he nearly took Allen down 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 force a punt early in the third.

Buffalo competed for a second straight game without receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a team meeting before their last game. He was earlier held out for the first series of a loss to New England in Week 5 after additionally being delayed for a team session.

“Nothing new. We are approaching it day by day,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are taking 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 topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.

Allen was disappointed that the Bills were unable to make plays down the stretch.

“Ultimately, we must execute, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he said. “Whatever scenario and whatever condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”