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Very little went well for the Bills' quarterback in a tough game Thursday night versus the Houston Texans.

And still he nearly managed to willing the Buffalo Bills to a win before an late pick in the final minute sealed their fate in a close loss.

The quarterback endured back-to-back sacks on the Bills’ final possession, leading to a fourth-and-27, but Buffalo (with seven wins) picked up significant yardage on a quick throw from Josh Allen to Josh Palmer, who tossed a backward pass to Khalil Shakir.

Following a pre-snap infraction created a fourth-and-6 for Buffalo, a Texans defender intercepted Allen’s pass at the Houston 9 with under half a minute remaining.

We possessed a chance to come out on top there at the conclusion,” Josh Allen said. “Our team performed a solid job of hanging tough and our defensive unit bailed us out a few instances. We’ve got find a way, and we didn’t.”

Proved tough for the signal-caller to get anything going on a night he was brought down a career-high on eight occasions and pressured four other times. Allen passed for 253 yards with a pair of picks and zero scores after accounting for six TDs in a win over Tampa Bay last week.

“When they pressure our QB 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott commented. “I disapprove of that statistic at all. It is not a healthy way to play and it’s not a good way to preserve our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to improve our performance.”

Allen was sluggish to get up after a sack in the first half. He indicated he was fine and that his shoulder “lost some feeling” after he landed on it in an awkward manner. He was questioned about being contacted so frequently on Thursday.

It's unpleasant,” he said. “I encountered a couple myself. I’ve got to be better at disposing of the football. Too many times, I found myself losing ground.”

Allen lost 70 yards on the eight quarterback takedowns. Will Anderson Jr. had 2.5 tackles for loss to top the Houston defense. His second one occurred when he nearly sacked the QB near the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and the defender rose and pursued him across the field to tackle him for an 18-yard loss to force a punt in the third quarter.

The Bills competed for a second straight game without receiver Keon Coleman after he was once more a healthy scratch after he was tardy to a squad gathering before their last game. He was earlier held out for the opening drive of a loss to the Patriots in the fifth week after also being late for a team session.

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

Khalil Shakir led the Buffalo with eight receptions for 110 receiving yards and Cook had 116 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Allen was disappointed that the team couldn’t execute in crucial moments.

“Ultimately, we’ve got execute, and we failed to succeed of that this evening,” he concluded. “Whatever scenario and whatever condition, we’ve got to discover a solution, and we didn’t.”