The Buffalo Bills answered a lot of questions about their 2020 aspirations, beating the Seattle Seahawks, 44-34. Shamefully, I had picked the Hawks to win the game but it was one of those instances where I’d rather pick against the Bills and be wrong instead of picking them and being crushed if they lost. I’m more than happy to apologize to Bills Mafia and eat crow on this one. My reasoning wasn’t that I didn’t believe in the Bills, it was more about my fear of Russell Wilson, my respect for the Seattle organization, and some lackluster games for Buffalo leading into Sunday. They have had some disappointing showings against top teams so far this season and were only something like 3-14 against playoff teams in the Sean McDermott era. So, it’s appropriate to categorize this one as a huge win.
Buffalo showed absolutely no fear right from the opening kick-off, as Andre Roberts returned the opening kick 60-yards to set the Bills up at Seattle’s 45-yd line. Josh Allen’s first touchdown pass of the day came on a beautiful frozen rope to Isaiah McKenzie for 25-yds, less than two minutes into the game. That morning game is often rough on West coast teams headed East and it looked like the Seahawks were asleep out there. They went 3 & out on their first drive and the Bills were right back at their necks with a 72-yd TD drive that Allen cashed in with another fantastic throw to tight end Tyler Kroft. Halfway through the 1st quarter, it was 14-0 Buffalo and you could tell Seattle was wobbled. They tried to answer back with a TD drive of their own but Jordan Poyer continued his excellent play and picked off Wilson in the end zone to prevent the score and set up a field goal for the Bills, making it 17-0. The Hawks did eventually get on the board with a TD and FG, but the Bills answered with another score to make it 24-10 at the half.
I knew Seattle was going to make a run at some point and they got the ball to open the 2nd half. However, Jerry Hughes came away with the strip sack on Wilson and Tre White recovered the fumble. That’s about as good of an omen as you could ask for and BUF tacked on a FG to make it a 17-pt game. To their credit, Seattle responded with a big TD to cut the lead to 10, forced a quick 3 & out on the Bills’ next position and added a FG to make it a 7-pt game.
At 27-20, I was starting to get nervous because I had seen Wilson and the Hawks do this time and time again. Thankfully, the Bills have faced adversity against some of the best teams in the AFC already and the moment wasn’t too big. Nearing the end of the 3rd quarter, Buffalo went 82-yds in 9-plays and Zack Moss punched in the TD to get the lead back to 14-pts. Desperately needing an answer, Russell Wilson tried to make something happen but Tre White was waiting in the wings and dropped off his coverage to make a great interception and return the ball down to the 3-yd line. Allen would need only one play, a designed QB run, to score the TD and make it a 21-pt game with just inside 10-minutes remaining in the 4th quarter.
Seattle showed just how dangerous their offense can be with a quick strike to David Moore for a 55-yd TD. A 14-pt game with 7-minutes left is far from insurmountable for the Seahawks and their defense has been known to make the big plays with the game on the line. A quick 3 & out from the Bills and I’m sweating again. Thankfully, Frazier was feeling confident that his defensive gameplan was working and he sent A.J. Klein on a blitz that resulted in a sack-fumble of Wilson and gave the Bills possession at the Seattle 19-yd line. Tyler Bass tacked on his 3rd FG of the day to make it 44-27 and that was pretty much the nail in the coffin. DK Metcalf capped off his big day with a TD, finishing with 7-rec for 108-yds and the score but it was too little too late. Buffalo recovered the onside kick attempt and Allen gathered the offense in victory formation to take the knee on the 10-pt win.
The Bills’ QB had his grandmother pass away the night before the game but he insisted on playing and showed a ton of poise and focus en route to a career day. He finished the day 31/38 for 415-yds with 3-TDs passing and a rushing score. The emotion came pouring out of him after the game and in true Bills Mafia fashion, fans have donated more than $250K to a Buffalo area children’s hospital in Patricia Allen’s name with many of those coming in $17 increments representative of the QB’s jersey number. If there was any doubt, this is just the latest example of why the Bills have the best fans in football.
Before the game, despite getting lit up on a regular basis in the passing game, I believed the Seahawks still had a pretty good defense. The total defense wasn’t that bad and getting Jamal Adams back helped as they sacked Allen 7-times, had 10-QB hits, 9-tackles for loss, and completely suffocated the Bills’ running game to the tune of 1.8-yds per carry on 19-attemtps. However, the Bills’ receivers feasted on Seattle’s league-worst pass defense. Stefon Diggs posted 9-rec/118-yds, John Brown added 8/99, and Gabriel Davis had 4/70 and a TD. I know Quinton Dunbar was supposed to be an upgrade to help fix the worsening Hawks’ secondary from the past few seasons, but the Bills made him look like he was playing in sand out there. Tre Flowers didn’t fare much better on the other side but he has been much improved this season. It was impressive to see the Bills’ offensive success despite some incredible pressure coming from Seattle.
Speaking of defense, despite giving up 34-points, this is the kind of dominant Bills’ defense I have been waiting to see all season long. There’s absolutely no way any of my ideas make it all way to someone in a position like Leslie Frazier, but I finally saw much of what I have been calling for since the Chiefs game. Frazier was incredibly well-prepared for this game and showed the Seattle offensive line a number of different looks and, with Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde sitting out for the Seahawks due to injury, it was much easier for the Bills to scheme to shut down Wilson’s passing assault. Frazier dialed up blitzes from all angles and positions, mixed up defensive fronts, and disguised a variety of coverages, almost baiting Wilson into throwing. You’d think that could be dangerous but the Bills’ defensive game plan worked splendidly to the tune of 4-turnovers, 5-sacks, 10-tackles for loss. Getting a player of Wilson’s caliber to turn the ball over 4-times is no small feat and I can’t remember the last team to do that to him. It’s a testament to his remarkable skill and sheer will power that he was still able to keep his team in the game with 390-yards passing and 3-touchdowns.
Performance Grade: A
In their last game before the bye week, the Bills head to Arizona to take on the Cardinals who got beat at home by the surging Dolphins. Buffalo can learn a lot from that game and the containment protocols used against Russell Wilson will surely help prepare them for Kyler Murray. From what I’ve seen so far, the Bills are the more complete team and have better depth on both sides of the ball. It’ll be a matter of limiting Murray’s escapes and capitalizing on any mistakes they can force out of him. It should be an entertaining game and 8-2 would look fantastic heading into the bye week.