Josh Allen Sacked 8 Occasions as Late Interception Seals Fate of Buffalo in Loss to Texans

Little clicked for Josh Allen in a disappointing game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.

And still he nearly managed to driving the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a close loss.

Allen took back-to-back tackles for loss on the team's last drive, resulting in a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a short pass from Josh Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.

Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for Buffalo, a Texans defender picked off the quarterback's throw at the 9-yard line with 24 seconds left.

We possessed a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “We did a solid job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”

Proved difficult for the signal-caller to get anything going on a evening he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after producing six touchdowns in a win over Tampa Bay last week.

“When they hit our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a healthy way to compete and it’s not a good 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 sack in the first half. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he fell on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being hit so frequently during the game.

It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple personally. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I found myself losing ground.”

Allen lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half sacks to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.

Buffalo competed for a second straight game without wideout Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was late to a team meeting before their previous contest. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a loss to New England in Week 5 after also being delayed for a meeting.

No change. We are taking it day by day,” the coach noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are handling it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the optimal opportunity.”

Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 yards and Cook had 116 yards and a score.

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

“Ultimately, we must perform, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he said. “No matter the scenario and whatever condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”