🔗 Share this article

Little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game on Thursday evening against the Houston Texans.

And still he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an late pick in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 loss.

Allen took back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a lateral to Khalil Shakir.

After a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with under half a minute left.

“We had a chance to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a solid job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”

It was tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four other times. Allen threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers the previous week.

Whenever they hit our QB a dozen times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it isn't a smart way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”

Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.

It's unpleasant,” he said. “I ran into a couple myself. I’ve got to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was going backwards.”

Allen surrendered 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. Another sack occurred when he almost took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and pursued him downfield to drop him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt early in the third.

Buffalo competed for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a loss to the Patriots in Week 5 after also being delayed for a team session.

“Nothing new. We are approaching it day by day,” McDermott said. “I felt he had a improved week, but we’re taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the players that give us the best chance.”

Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight catches for 110 yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a score.

Allen was frustrated that the Bills were unable to execute down the stretch.

In the end, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the situation and whatever circumstance, we need to find a way, and we came up short.”