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Very little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a disappointing game Thursday night versus the Texans.

And still he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.

Allen endured consecutive sacks on the team's final possession, resulting in a long fourth down, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up 44 yards on a short pass from Allen to a receiver, who tossed a lateral to another teammate.

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

We possessed a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Allen stated. “Our team performed a solid job of staying in it and our defense saved us a couple of times. We must figure it out, and unfortunately we failed.”

Proved tough for the signal-caller to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six TDs in a victory over Tampa Bay the previous week.

“When they hit our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to play and it’s not 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 said he was fine and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was asked about being hit so frequently on Thursday.

“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a couple myself. I’ve got to be more effective at throwing the ball away. On multiple occasions, I was going backwards.”

Allen lost 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. His second one came when he almost took Allen down near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender rose and chased him across the field to drop him for an 18-yard deficit to force a punt in the third quarter.

Buffalo played for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Coleman after he was once more a non-participant after he was tardy to a team meeting before their last game. He was previously held out for the opening drive of a defeat to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being late for a team session.

“Nothing new. We are approaching it one day at a time,” the coach noted. “I felt he had a better week, but we are handling it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the guys that give us the optimal opportunity.”

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

The quarterback was frustrated that the Bills couldn’t make plays down the stretch.

“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we failed to succeed of that tonight,” he said. “No matter the scenario and any circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we came up short.”