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Very little went right for the Bills' quarterback in a tough contest on Thursday evening versus the Texans.

Yet he came close to driving the Buffalo Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a close defeat.

Allen endured consecutive tackles for loss on the Bills’ last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.

Following a false-start penalty created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted the quarterback's pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.

We possessed a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defense bailed us out a couple of times. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”

It was difficult for the signal-caller to get anything going on a night he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four other times. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay last week.

Whenever they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our quarterback in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”

Allen was slow to get up after a sack 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 asked about being contacted so frequently during the game.

“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”

Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half sacks to top the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender got up and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt in the third quarter.

Buffalo played for a second straight game absent wideout Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after additionally being late for a team session.

“Nothing new. We are taking it day by day,” the coach noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It was not that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that provide the best chance.”

Khalil Shakir topped the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 yards and a touchdown.

Allen was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.

In the end, we’ve got execute, and we failed to do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and whatever condition, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”