Game Recap: Seahawks Fall Flat in Crushing Loss to Bills

One week after playing their best game of the season, the Seattle Seahawks went the complete opposite direction in a 31-10 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Connor Benintendi | Oct 27, 2024

Oct 27, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Buffalo Bills running back James Cook (4) rushes for a touchdown against Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV (13) during the fourth quarter at Lumen Field. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

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Seattle Seahawks

Dee Williams’ muffed punt return late in the fourth quarter was emblematic of the entire outing for the Seattle Seahawks in a 31-10, mistake-laden blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Lumen Field.

One week removed from their highest-scoring game of the season (34 points) against the Atlanta Falcons, the Seahawks dropped a dud versus the Bills and posted their lowest scoring output of the season. It was the team’s most largest margin of defeat at home since 2017 (42-7 loss to Los Angeles Rams in Week 15).

"That's the result of a good football team that outplayed us in three phases, and then it gets out of hand when you're doing the things we did today," Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said postgame. "We didn't help ourselves, as well. It's a laundry list of things. We could go line item by line item if you want, but the long and short of it is we got outplayed, we got outcoached and we got to go make it right."

Tempers flared for Seattle as Buffalo gashed the Seahawks for 164 rushing yards and Josh Allen (24-of-34 passing, 283 yards, two touchdowns and one interception) picked apart their defense through the air. Three trips to the Bills’ goal line by Seattle’s offense generated just 10 points — seven of those coming after the Seahawks were already deep in a 31-3 deficit.

Before Seattle’s late touchdown drive, Buffalo owned a 409 to 141 advantage in total yards. There were few positives to glean from a season-worst performance on both sides of the ball.

Seattle's story of the first half was told by its self-inflicted wounds. Buffalo took a 7-0 lead into the second quarter after outgaining the Seahawks 145-12 in the opening period. Seattle appeared primed to tie the game midway through the second quarter, putting together a long drive that chewed up more than seven minutes of clock.

However, on 2nd and Goal from the Bills’ 3-yard line, Seahawks center Connor Williams sailed the shotgun snap well above quarterback Geno Smith’s head in the rainy conditions — eventually recovered by running back Kenneth Walker III, who picked it up and got back to the 22-yard line.

Any effort to recover the lost yardage was feeble, and Jason Myers put Seattle on the board with a 38-yard field goal.

On Buffalo’s next drive, Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe snagged the first interception of his career — also the first one thrown by Allen all season — and returned it to the Bills’ 7-yard line. Consecutive runs got Seattle on Buffalo’s doorstep but also put the Seahawks in a 4th and Goal situation.

In a have-to-have-it situation, Williams snapped the ball and immediately dropped his right foot back. That placed Williams’ cleat directly on top of Smith’s, who received the snap, and caused him to stumble and fall backwards. The Seahawks turned it over on downs.

"It felt like we had a chance to really turn the momentum there, and Josh [Jobe] had great technique on that play, and then when he had the opportunity, he took advantage of it," Macdonald said. "So that was great at the time. It felt like we had a chance to get the thing rolling."

Instead, a 12-play, 93-yard drive by the Bills pushed their lead to 14-3 at halftime. Allen found tight end Dalton Kincaid for his second touchdown pass of the day.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) passes against the Seattle Seahawks during the second quarter at Lumen Field.

Oct 27, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) passes against the Seattle Seahawks during the second quarter at Lumen Field. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Receiving the ball in the second half, Buffalo tacked on three more points. Smith threw his seventh interception of the season on an attempted screen pass to Walker on Seattle’s next drive. As they had all game, the Bills capitalized on the Seahawks’ mistakes. Running back James Cook was in the end zone seven plays later, pushing their lead to 24-3 late in the third quarter.

The Seahawks went backward on their next drive, and Buffalo kept pouring it on. Buffalo compiled its fifth drive of the game spanning at least seven plays, and Cook found the end zone for his second rushing score of the day on a 7-yard run. Buffalo took a commanding 31-3 lead.

Zach Charbonnet got in the end zone for the Seahawks on a 1-yard touchdown run with just over eight minutes remaining in the game. Williams’ fumbled punt with under three minutes to play was the final nail in Seattle’s coffin.

Missed opportunities

Williams was the primary culprit contributing to Seattle’s pair of stalled drives near Buffalo’s end zone. If Williams hadn’t sent a snap over Smith’s head and stepped on his foot on the next drive, the Seahawks should have had a 14-7 lead near the end of the first half.

"We had too many self-inflicted wounds," Smith said postgame. "That's kind of been our story this season, you know, we got down there in the red zone twice, had a shot at points, and came away with nothing. Well, we got three points. But we want to score touchdowns."

Instead, Buffalo entered halftime leading 14-3. If you force those mistakes from a good team like the Bills, you have to convert those chances into touchdowns. The Seahawks didn’t, and the game snowballed in the other direction.

Run game disappears

It’s a tired subject, but it’s probably the biggest recurring issue for the Seahawks this season: The ground attack is non-existent. Seattle is 3-0 this season when handing the ball to its running backs at least 20 times, and 1-4 when they don’t.

Charbonnet and Walker had 16 rushing yards on 12 carries against the Bills. Smith led the Seahawks in rushing (16 yards on five carries) for the second time this season. It was tough sledding, sure, but that continues to be an indictment of a failing offensive line for Seattle.

The team has not fared any better when they put Smith (21-of-29 passing, 212 yards and one interception) in straight dropback scenarios over, and over and over again — especially in a game where DK Metcalf, the NFL’s fourth-leading receiver entering Week 8, is out.

"Yeah, I would say it's a major concern," Macdonald said of the run game. "So we've got to make it right. If I knew the one answer, I'd give that to you right now, but it seems like it's a litany of things. We've got to go to work on it. Right now we can't control the tempo of games."

Penalties galore

Oct 27, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) reacts after a delay of game penalty following a fourth quarter timeout against the Buffalo Bills at Lumen Field. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The Seahawks and Bills combined for 24 total penalties, the most combined fouls in any NFL game this season. Buffalo was assessed 13 penalties for 85 yards, while Seattle committed 11 fouls for 82 yards.

It added insult to injury to what was already an abysmal performance for the Seahawks. Buffalo recovered time and time again from its unforced errors, while the Seahawks dug themselves deeper into an ever-enlarging hole.

Smith was even issued a taunting penalty late in the third quarter after being pushed out of bounds on a scramble and proceeding to throw the football at a Buffalo defender’s helmet.

Up Next

Seattle hosts the Los Angeles Rams (3-4) for a Week 9 contest at Lumen Field. It’ll be Seattle’s second divisional game of the season after losing to the San Francisco 49ers at home in Week 6.

The Rams are coming off a 30-20 upset victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night to earn their second-straight win. The Seahawks will try not to suffer their fifth loss in the last six games.