Josh Allen Taken Down 8 Times as Final-Minute Interception Dooms Buffalo in Defeat to Houston

Little went well for Josh Allen in a disappointing game Thursday night against the Texans.

Yet he came close to driving the Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.

Allen endured back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a long fourth down, but the Bills (7-4) gained 44 yards on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.

Following a false-start penalty led to a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender picked off Allen’s throw at the 9-yard line with under half a minute left.

“We had a opportunity to win it there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of staying in it and our defensive unit saved us a few instances. We must figure it out, and we didn’t.”

Proved difficult for Allen to get anything going on a night he was brought down a personal-worst on eight occasions and hit four additional instances. Allen threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and zero scores after producing six TDs in a win over the Buccaneers last week.

“When they pressure our quarterback a dozen times, that's unacceptable,” Buffalo's head coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It’s just not a safe way to compete and it isn't a smart way to preserve our field general in good shape for the rest of the season. We need to play better.”

Josh Allen was slow to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being hit so frequently during the game.

It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. On multiple occasions, I was losing ground.”

The Bills' QB lost 70 total yards on the eight sacks. Anderson had 2.5 sacks to top the Texans. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson got up and pursued him downfield to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to result in a punt in the third quarter.

The Bills competed for a second consecutive matchup absent receiver Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a squad gathering before their last game. He was previously held out for the first series of a loss to New England in Week 5 after also being delayed for a team session.

“Nothing new. We’re just approaching it day by day,” the coach said. “I felt he had a better week, but we’re handling it step by step. It was not that it was ignored, but we opted for the guys that give us the best chance.”

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

Allen was frustrated that the team were unable to make plays down the stretch.

“Ultimately, we must execute, and we failed to do a good job of that this evening,” he said. “No matter the situation and whatever condition, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”