Bills 44 Seahawks 34: Winners and Losers from a discouraging defensive display by Seattle

Just because two Presidential candidates were in a contest to get to 270 didn’t mean the Seattle Seahawks needed to join in and try to give up 270 points in a game. It really felt like allowing just the 44 points to the Buffalo Bills was kind. Some of those points were a product of short fields but it’s not like they were stopping them with favorable field position.

Seattle has serious defensive problems and it is really putting their Super Bowl aspirations at risk. Let’s get to Winners and Losers.

Winners

DK Metcalf

Seven catches for 108 yards and a garbage time TD puts him at 43/788/8 for the season. The dude is a superstar already and only getting better. Tre’Davious White got his interception later in the game but Metcalf owned him on a couple of catches and just made a great corner look like a child along the sidelines. I haven’t found the play of him shoving White aside but it’s great.

Carlos Dunlap

One sack, three tackles for losses, and a pair of quarterback hits is not too shabby for your debut. He did his part on a day when Seattle’s defense accomplished very little.

Jarran Reed

He had 2.5 sacks before coming off the field due to injury. It was by far his best pass-rushing performance since 2018 and he needed something like this, because he’s been a disappointment since returning from suspension last season.

Jacob Hollister

Five catches for 60 yards on seven targets is one of his best outings as a Seahawk. I’m glad they didn’t trade him.

David Moore

His fourth touchdown on the year continues his career best season.

Jason Myers

He made both of his field goals and all of his extra points! Sweet!

Losers

The pass defense

Self-explanatory. I pity Quinton Dunbar because he played easily the worst game I’ve seen a Seahawks corner play since Cary Williams in 2015 but he was not healthy and the lack of depth proved problematic. But the whole secondary was abysmal in pass coverage and that includes Jamal Adams, who acknowledged his rust and seemingly had a coverage bust on the first touchdown. Adams was way better getting after Allen but he’s not a winner overall, hence why I didn’t put him in that column. ZERO passes defensed is just sad.

Ken Norton Jr and Pete Carroll

Norton needs to go. Carroll needs to gameplan better. That was pathetic.

L.J. Collier

It may not have mattered in the end but that horse collar penalty on Josh Allen turned 3rd and goal into a new set of downs and a touchdown. He needs to lose snaps once Benson Mayowa returns. Carlos Dunlap basically makes him redundant anyway.

Russell Wilson

There’s going to be a lot of defending Wilson because the team played from behind and he was just trying to make a play, but he was not great. His 3rd down passing was once again game-damaging bad and he had as many turnovers (3) as he did completions (3 out of 8). He had some accuracy issues throughout the game and looked totally lost beating the blitz for the second time in three weeks. Forget the MVP stuff, Wilson is getting heavily harassed and I think it’s affecting his decision making. Seven turnovers in two losses is not something you see out of Wilson.

Travis Homer as a runner

No. It’s just not happening.

Return game

Seattle gave up a 66-yard kick return to Andre Roberts to begin the day and that was a sign of things to come. Freddie Swain also had an awful return that put the Seahawks in bad field position, but thankfully they scored anyway.

Final Notes

• Deejay Dallas was aight, I guess. Seattle needs Chris Carson back. The problem with “running backs don’t matter” is the lack of nuance. It’s the easiest position to interchange but it’s also still a skill position where talent matters. Carson is miles better than every other back on the team. The Seahawks running game would not have flourished with Robert Turbin as the starter instead of Marshawn Lynch. It’s not flourishing with the non-Carson RBs this season and it is hurting the team offense and predictability of playcalling.
• Alex Collins didn’t get enough snaps or touches for me to have any opinion on his performance.
• I’m going to be a little controversial and say that Russell Wilson should’ve been pulled after 44-27. He was getting beaten up and they weren’t going to get three touchdowns in five minutes without reply. Cut your losses, protect your franchise quarterback, and let Geno Smith get some run-in in a lost cause. Always Compete should cede for safety when the game is decided.
• Seattle is considered a pretender after today I would not challenge it. They have one good win against the Miami Dolphins (bet you wouldn’t think we’d say that in September, right?) and then a sea of mediocre to outright bad opposition. Against the top two teams they’ve played they have lost them both and the defense was extremely awful both times and Russell Wilson turned it over a lot. They need to beat at least one of the Cardinals or Rams the rest of this regular season for anyone to be a serious believer, because the flaws on this team look fatal. It is essentially the 2019 team but with better run defense, better pass offense, much worse pass defense, and usually they play with a lead instead of the wire-to-wire deficit we saw in Buffalo.
• RIP Alex Trebek. Jeopardy! will never be the same without you.