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Little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating contest on Thursday evening against the Texans.

And still he nearly managed to willing the Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a close defeat.

Allen endured consecutive sacks on the team's last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but the Bills (7-4) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a lateral to Khalil Shakir.

Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth down situation for the Bills, Calen Bullock intercepted Allen’s throw at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.

“We had a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a solid job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We must find a way, and unfortunately we failed.”

Proved tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a night he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four additional instances. The QB passed for 253 passing yards with a pair of picks and no touchdowns after accounting for six touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers the previous week.

“When they pressure our QB a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I disapprove of that stat 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 remaining games. We’ve got to play better.”

Josh Allen was sluggish to get up after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his left shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so frequently on Thursday.

“It’s not fun,” he remarked. “I encountered a couple personally. I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball away. Too many times, I was going backwards.”

Allen surrendered 70 total yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Anderson had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. Another sack came when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and the defender rose and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.

The Bills played for a second consecutive matchup absent wideout Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their previous contest. He was earlier benched for the opening drive of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after also being delayed for a team session.

“Nothing new. We’re just taking it one day at a time,” McDermott noted. “I thought he had a improved week, but we’re taking it one day at a time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we opted for the players that give us the optimal opportunity.”

Shakir topped the Bills with eight receptions for 110 yards and James Cook had 116 yards and a score.

The quarterback was frustrated that the team were unable to execute down the stretch.

“Ultimately, we must execute, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he said. “No matter the situation and any circumstance, we need to discover a solution, and we came up short.”