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Bills offense is efficient, defense limits Seahawks in convincing win: Key takeaways

Posted on by Vanessa
Bills offense is efficient, defense limits Seahawks in convincing win: Key takeaways

By Joe Buscaglia, Tim Graham, Michael-Shawn Dugar and Lauren Smith

Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes, James Cook rushed for two more scores and the Buffalo Bills scored a decisive 31:10 win on the road against the Seattle Seahawks.

The Bills (6-2) never trailed in the game, amassing a season-high 445 yards of offense on Sunday en route to their third straight win.

Allen threw for 283 yards and touchdowns in the first half to rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman and tight end Dalton Kincaid, and Khalil Shakir had a season-best 107 receiving yards. Cook added a season-high 111 rushing yards and two scores in the second half as the Bills built a lead of as many as 28 points in the final frame.

The Seahawks (4-4) didn't reach the end zone until midway through the final quarter after a short scoring run by Zach Charbonnet. Buffalo's defense limited Seattle to season-lows in scoring and yardage – 233 total offensive yards and 32 rushing yards – while the Seahawks lost their fourth game in their last five games.

The Bills' defense is the key to victory

One of the biggest questions the Bills defense had to answer was keeping Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III from making the big play on rushing attempts.

Not only did the Bills prevent Walker from scoring a big run when the game mattered, but they also kept him completely at bay. His best gain was just 5 yards and only came on a failed fumble play where he had free air. Walker only had nine carries for 12 yards.

It was particularly impressive for the Bills because they were without their top linebacker Terrel Bernard and his backup, Baylon Spector, has struggled to limit the run in previous games.

The Bills had an overall win as a team, but the defense deserves a lot of credit for limiting what is usually a highly explosive offense. — Joe Buscaglia, Bills beat writer

Mike Macdonald seemed to be outclassed by Sean McDermott

This is the first game of the Macdonald era in which the Seahawks appeared completely outmatched.

The total number of penalties (11) stands out, but the Bills somehow committed even more errors (13). The real difference in this game was that the Bills played like a team led by an experienced head coach who had his club ready to travel the country and play his football. Meanwhile, Macdonald's Seahawks couldn't move the ball or stop the Bills when they had it. Seattle lost the battle at the line of scrimmage and players on both sides of the ball lost their composure.

At 4-4 and with a chance to still be atop the NFC West after Sunday night, the Seahawks don't need to panic, but they do need to look in the mirror and find an identity. – Michael-Shawn Dugar, Seahawks beat writer

Bills receivers Coleman and Shakir stand out

Coleman played a grown man's game in the Seattle rain, knocking down a touchdown throw from Pro Bowl cornerback Riq Woolen in the first quarter and making another great contested catch for a 21-yard gain in the third quarter to prepare for a touchdown.

He totaled nine receptions and 195 yards over the last two weeks.

But the best receiver on Sunday was Allen safety Khalil Shakir, who caught his first eight targets for 99 yards. The only misconnection was a pass that was deflected at the line of scrimmage.

Eight balls was already a career high for Shakir, he finished the game with nine balls for 107 yards, eight shy of his personal best.

A remarkable statistic, especially considering Shakir was hampered by a right ankle sprain four weeks ago: Allen has targeted Shakir 36 times this year, with just one incompletion. Since the start of last season, Shakir has caught 75 of 83 targets (90.4 percent) for 1,032 yards. — Tim Graham, Bills beat writer

Seattle looked one-dimensional

Seattle's one-dimensional offense issues resurfaced. Walker and Charbonnet combined for 16 yards on 12 carries. Even before the score got out of hand, Seattle failed to pass the ball. A 13-yard scramble by Geno Smith in the fourth quarter was the longest carry of the afternoon.

If Seattle can do nothing but drop back to pass, the results will almost always be poor. It's been that way all season and Sunday was no different. – Dugar

Required reading

(Photo: Jane Gershovich / Getty Images)

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