Halloween may not be until Thursday, but the Buffalo Bills were downright scary during Sunday's 31-10 thumping of the Seattle Seahawks.
Buffalo never trailed, led 14-3 at halftime and raced out to a 31-3 lead before calling off the dogs. The Bills received another MVP-caliber performance from quarterback Josh Allen, who went 24 of 34 for 283 yards with a pair of touchdown passes. He was aided by running back James Cook, who gashed Seattle's defense to the tune of 111 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.
While Buffalo's offense was on fire, Seattle's offense was largely stuck in neutral. The Seahawks ran for a scant 32 yards and committed two costly miscues inside Buffalo's 5-yard-line in the second quarter. Seattle's offense desperately missed wideout DK Metcalf, who was out with a knee injury.
Buffalo is now 6-2 and are way ahead of the field in the AFC East. Seattle falls to 4-4 and now trails Arizona in the AFC West standings.
Here's a closer look at how the Bills blew out the Seahawks.
Buffalo took control of the game early when it started things off with a 14-play, 90-yard drive that took over nine minutes off the clock. The drive was capped off with Allen throwing a short touchdown pass to rookie Keon Coleman, who had a big game with 70 yards on five catches.
The Bills offense went into a little lull after that, but their defense stepped up by holding Seattle to just three points on consecutive drives that ended in the red zone. Allen and Co. rewarded its defense by proceeding to score on four consecutive drives.
Allen was excellent. While he threw his first interception of the season (snapping a franchise record 310 passes without a pick), he more than made up for it. He spread the ball around, was extremely accurate and made several smart decisions instead of trying to be a hero. Allen didn't have to be one today, as he had plenty of help from Cook and a defense that dominated from the onset.
While he only caught one pass, recently acquired wideout Amari Cooper still made his presence felt. He helped open things up for the rest of Buffalo's playmakers, especially Khalil Shakir, who caught nine passes for 107 yards.
Metcalf's absence was huge, as it enabled the Bills to focus more on fellow wideouts Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Not helping matters was the fact that Seattle could not get anything going on the ground. They had just 1 rushing yard in the first half and finished the game with just 32 yards on 17 carries.
The Seahawks did have some success out of the no-huddle, but that success wasn't sustainable once they got into the red zone. The Bills entered the game with the NFL's sixth-ranked red zone defense, and they will surely be ranked higher now after holding Seattle to just 1-3 red zone efficiency. The Seahawks were also just 1 of 7 on third down (compared to Buffalo's 8 of 15 conversion rate).
Defensively, Seattle was unable to pressure Allen, who helped his cause by getting the ball out quickly. It also failed to make the Bills one-dimensional.
As alluded to earlier, Seattle had consecutive drives that saw them get inside Buffalo's 5-yard line. But two mistakes by center Connor Williams proved costly.
On second-and-goal at the 3, a high snap by Williams resulted in a 19-yard loss, and the drive ended with a field goal. Moments later, after Josh Jobe recorded his first career interception, Seattle came up empty after Williams tripped Smith on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
After the second stop, Buffalo's offense capitalized by going 93 yards on 12 plays that ended with an Allen touchdown pass to Dalton Kincaid as the Bills took a 14-3 halftime lead.
We've got two plays for you. The first was courtesy of Coleman, whose 21-yard grab on third-and-5 set up Cook's back-breaking touchdown, increasing Buffalo's lead to 24-3 late in the third quarter.
We also have to recognize defensive lineman Austin Johnson's first ever interception (he didn't have one in college or high school, according to the Fox broadcast) that set up Cook's first touchdown.
"I love it. I had some sushi yesterday. I don't get that too often in Buffalo, so I enjoyed it." -- Allen during his Fox postgame interview when asked if he enjoyed his first road experience in Seattle
Buffalo will play host to Miami, who fell to 2-6 after dropping a 28-27 decision Sunday to the Arizona Cardinals. Seattle will stay at home for next week's game against the Rams, who are nipping at the Seahawks' heels in the NFC West division standings.
Buffalo's starters have been out for a while as Mitch Trubisky is leading the offense on kneel downs to kill the final two minutes of the clock. The Bills will improve to 6-2 and now have a 3.5 game lead in the AFC East division standings.
Seattle falls to 4-4 and are now trailing Arizona (4-4) in the AFC West standings.
It took three quarters, but Seattle finally found the end zone on a short TD run by Zach Charbonnet. Smith hit several big passes on the drive, but Seattle continues to get virtually nothing on the ground.
Buffalo is up big, 31-3, following Cook's second TD run with 11:19 left. I don't wanna say Seattle is giving up, but this is far from their best effort. The Bills have surely imposed their will today.
Cook now has 111 yards on 17 carries. Allen is up to 275 yards on 23 of 32 passing. Extremely efficient performance today from the Bills' offense.
Seattle punts again, and the Bills' offense is back on the field as we start the fourth quarter. The biggest difference today has been Buffalo's ability to run the ball. They have 104 more yards than Seattle.
Buffalo parlays the Johnson pick into six points on James Cook's TD run, extending the lead to 24-3 with 1:57 left in the third. Cook has also had a big game with 83 yards and a TD on 13 carries. Utterly dominant performance by Buffalo so far.
The drive's key play was Allen's 21-yard completion to Keon Coleman on a third-and-5 play. It was a really impressive catch by Coleman, who is now up to 70 yards on five receptions.
Seattle had a good drive going, but it ended abruptly after Smith threw a pick to Bills DT Austin Johnson. As expected, Seattle went no huddle again and continued to struggle to run the ball. Bills offense can put this one away if they are able to score here.
Coby Bryant's PBU in the end zone forces a Bills FG, making it a 17-3 lead for the visiting team midway through the third quarter.
Buffalo has now had the ball twice as long today as Seattle, who hasn't had a snap in this game since fumbling the ball on fourth-and-goal with 4:46 left in the first half (not including their kneel down to end the first). The Seahawks haven't had success running the ball, so it'l be interesting to see if they even try to here or if they go no-huddle like they did on their long scoring drive.
Allen lofts a perfectly-thrown, 35-yard pass to Shakir as Buffalo is back in Seattle territory. This is the best the Bills' offense has looked this year. Cooper hasn't done a lot statistically, but he is opening things up for Shakir and Buffalo's other skill players.
It's early, but hard to envision Seattle being able to come back if Buffalo gets a TD on this drive.
Score: 14-7 Bills
First downs: Bills 15-6
Total yards: Bills 224-96
Third down: Bills 6-8; Seahawks 1-5
Red zone: Bills 2-2; Seahawks 0-2
TOP: Bills 18:07
Rushing yards: Bills 74-1
Allen: 16-22, 150 yards, 2 TD's 1 INT, 1 sack
Smith: 10-13, 95 yards, 0 sacks
Shakir: 6 catches, 58 yards
Walker: 6 carries, 5 yards
Buffalo makes it 17-7 after Allen hits TE Dalton Kincaid from 12 yards out. Buffalo got some luck early on during the drive when a fumble by Allen was scooped up by teammate Ty Johnson. The drive then got on track courtesy of an 18-yard run by James Cook, who is up to 56 yards on 8 carries.
We just had a skirmish on Seattle's sideline between defensive teammates between Derrick Hall and Jarran Reed after Hall's late hit on Allen gave the Bills a fresh set of downs just before Allen's TD pass.
Connor Williams, who had the crucial high snap on Seattle's last drive, tripped Geno Smith on fourth-and-goal following Jobe's pick. The trip caused Smith to fall and prevented Seattle from scoring.
So the Seahawks have had consecutive drives that have entered the 5-yard-line line and have just three points to show for it.
It appears that the broadcast jinxed the Bills and Allen, who threw his first career pick shortly after FOX stated that Buffalo's two turnovers through 7 games was the fewest since 2017. Allen's pick was thrown to Josh Jobe on an attempt for Amari Cooper, who was not targeted in the first quarter. The pick was Jobe's first.
Allen had gone 301 passes without a pick, a franchise record.
Seattle drove to Buffalo's 3, but a high snap resulted in a 19-yard loss on second-and-goal. Fortunately, the fumble was scooped up by Kenneth Walker, who prevented a turnover. But the miscue led to Seattle settling for a FG and a 7-3 deficit.
The Seahawks, after struggling on their first two drives, had success on that drive largely because they went no-huddle. It worked on this drive but will be interesting to see if they will continue to try to work at that pace and how Buffalo will adjust if so.
Score: Bills 7-0
First downs: Bills 9-0
Third down: Bills 4-5; Seahawks 0-2
Total yards: Bills 145-12
TOP: Bills 12:10
Penalties: Bills 5-39; Seahawks 2-9
Allen: 10-13, 108 yards, 1 TD
Smith: 2-5, 10 yards
Cook: 5 carries, 31 yards
Coleman: 3 catches, 34 yards, TD
Shakir: 3 catches, 30 yards
Walker: 2 carries, 2 yards
A false start penalty set up a third-and-15 for the Bills on their second drive, but a 13-yard gain on a short pass from Allen to Khalil Shakir had Buffalo considering going for it on fourth down. But Sean McDermott decided to punt, probably given the fact that his defense is playing well and now the Seahawks are backed up at their own 9.
Seattle needs to at least pick up a first down or two on this drive. They've gained 3 yards on 6 plays and we have 18 seconds left in the quarter.
Nice PBU by DB Cam Lewis on third down forces a second Seahawks punt in as many possessions. If there's a positive for Seattle its that's Buffalo is pinned inside its own 10-yard-line to start its second drive.
As Tom Brady just said on the broadcast, the Bills are playing more dime than he can recall, which is saying something given that he played the Bills twice a year every year for two decades. It's working so far against the Seahawks and Geno Smith, who is clearly missing Metcalf.
Allen throws a laser to Coleman (who was guarded tightly by Riq Woolen) to give Buffalo an early lead. Coelman has been on coming on lately after a slow start to his rookie season.
It was a 14-play, 90-yard drive that took over 9 minutes off the clock. Allen was 7 of 8 for 80 yards on the drive. MVP-caliber stuff.
After forcing a punt, the Bills are now in the red zone after Josh Allen hits Keon Coleman for a 25-yard gain on a third-and-8 play. Buffalo is in position to score despite committing four penalties on this drive. Allen has been on the money so far.
Real bad news for Seattle as Metcalf won't suit up today. Jaxon Smith-Njigba's number should be called more with Metcalf out.
Buffalo had a host of injured players this week, but got considerably healthier as the week progressed. Dawson Knox, Damar Hamlin and Josh Allen are among the players who are active today after being on this week's injury report.
