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Little clicked for the Bills' quarterback in a frustrating game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.

Yet he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an interception in the final minute ended their hopes in a 23-19 defeat.

Allen took back-to-back sacks on the team's final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (7-4) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to another teammate.

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

“We had a opportunity to come out on top there at the end,” Josh Allen said. “We did a good job of hanging tough and our defense bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”

Proved tough for Allen to get anything going on a night he was sacked a personal-worst on eight occasions and pressured four other times. The QB threw for 253 passing yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns after producing six TDs in a win over the Buccaneers last week.

“When they pressure our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Buffalo's head coach McDermott commented. “I don’t like that statistic at all. It is not a safe way to play and it isn't a smart way to keep our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We need to improve our performance.”

Allen was sluggish to rise after a tackle in the opening two quarters. He said he was OK and that his left shoulder “went a little numb” after he fell on it awkwardly. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.

“It’s not fun,” he said. “I ran into a few myself. I need to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I was losing ground.”

The Bills' QB surrendered 70 yards on the eight sacks. Will Anderson Jr. had two and a half tackles for loss to lead the Houston defense. His second one came when he nearly took Allen down near the scrimmage line, but he escaped and Anderson rose 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 consecutive matchup without wideout Coleman after he was again a non-participant after he was late to a team meeting before their last game. He was earlier benched for the first series of a defeat to New England in Week 5 after additionally being late for a team session.

No change. We are approaching it one day at a time,” McDermott said. “I thought he had a improved week, but we are taking it step by step. It wasn’t that it wasn’t thought about, but we went with the guys that give us the best chance.”

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

Allen was disappointed that the Bills couldn’t make plays in crucial moments.

In the end, we must execute, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and whatever circumstance, we’ve got to find a way, and we didn’t.”