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

Yet he came close to willing the Bills to a win before an late pick in the last moments sealed their fate in a close loss.

Allen endured consecutive tackles for loss on the team's last drive, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) gained significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to a receiver, who flipped a backward pass to another teammate.

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

“We had a opportunity to win it there at the conclusion,” Allen said. “Our team performed a good job of staying in it and our defense saved us a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”

It was tough for Allen to establish rhythm on a evening he was brought down a personal-worst eight times and hit four other times. Allen threw for 253 yards with two interceptions and zero scores after accounting for six TDs in a win over the Buccaneers last week.

“When they pressure our QB 12 times, that's unacceptable,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it’s not a good way to preserve our field general healthy for the remaining games. We need to improve our performance.”

Allen was sluggish to rise after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was OK and that his shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was asked about being hit so frequently on Thursday.

It's unpleasant,” he remarked. “I ran into a couple myself. I need to be more effective at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was going backwards.”

Allen lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to top the Texans. His second one came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he wriggled away and Anderson got up and chased him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard deficit to result in a punt early in the third.

Buffalo played for a second straight game 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 benched for the first series of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after also being delayed for a meeting.

“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it one day at a time,” the coach said. “I thought he had a better week, but we’re taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that provide the best chance.”

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

The quarterback was disappointed that the Bills were unable to execute in crucial moments.

“Ultimately, we’ve got perform, and we didn’t do a good job of that this evening,” he concluded. “No matter the scenario and whatever condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”