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Little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game on Thursday evening versus the Texans.

Yet he came close to driving the Bills to a victory before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a close defeat.

Allen took back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) gained significant yardage on a short pass from Allen to Josh Palmer, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.

Following a pre-snap infraction led to a fourth-and-6 for the Bills, a Texans defender picked off Allen’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 stated. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We must find a way, and we didn’t.”

It was difficult for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers last week.

Whenever they hit our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete and it isn't a smart way to preserve our field general in good shape for the remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”

Allen was sluggish to get up after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He indicated he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being hit so frequently during the game.

It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a few myself. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was losing ground.”

Allen lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he almost sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and Anderson rose and pursued him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt early in the third.

The Bills competed for a second straight game without wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was late to a team meeting before their last game. He was previously benched for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after also being delayed for a team session.

No change. We are taking it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are taking it one day at a time. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the players that provide the best chance.”

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

Allen was frustrated that the team were unable to make plays in crucial moments.

In the end, we’ve got execute, and we didn’t succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the situation and any condition, we need to find a way, and we didn’t.”