Seahawks' measuring-stick game doesn't go as they wanted vs. Bills

SEATTLE — Coaches like to be able to say after a loss that at least their team went down fighting.

They do usually prefer when the fighting isn't among themselves.

Alas, the sight of Seahawks defensive lineman Jarran Reed and edge rusher Derick Hall arguing on the sidelines late in the first half following a roughing-the-passer penalty on Hall that kept a Buffalo drive alive, and needing to be separated, served as an all-too-fitting lasting image of a disastrous afternoon for the Seahawks.

When the Seahawks weren't pushing each other Sunday they were being pushed around by the Buffalo Bills, who left town with a 31-10 victory that at times felt even more decisive on the field.

The Bills outgained Seattle 445-233 for the game, and 416-141 when they had grabbed a 31-3 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The Bills held the Seahawks to a season-low 32 yards rushing on 17 attempts — half of that coming on five scrambles from quarterback Geno Smith — while gaining 164 yards rushing of their own on 34 attempts.

"The long and short of it is, we got outplayed, out-coached, and we've got to go make it right," Seahawks first-year coach Mike Macdonald said.

The Seahawks showed an alarming lack of disciplined play, especially when it mattered most.

Despite how the final stats accurately painted a dominant Buffalo win, the Seahawks had chances early to make it a game, holding the ball inside the Bills' 3-yard line or closer twice in the second quarter.

Each time, disaster ensued.

The first possession unraveled when center Connor Williams fired a shotgun snap far over Smith's head on second-and-goal at the 3. Their next snap came at the 27 and the Seahawks had to settle for a Jason Myers field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.

The Seahawks made what looked like could have been a game-turning play, when cornerback Josh Jobe picked off Buffalo's Josh Allen — Allen's first interception this season — returning it to the 7.

Three plays took it to the 1, where they went for it.

Williams appeared to step on Smith's foot as Smith took the snap from under center, sending the Seahawks quarterback tumbling backward for a loss of six.

"We had too many self-inflicted wounds," Smith said. "That's been our story this season. 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."

Things went from bad to worse as Buffalo drove to Seattle's 24. An Allen pass on third down fell incomplete as the Bills were also called for an illegal shift. But after Allen threw, Hall hit him, drawing not only a flag but the ire of Reed.

Reed began jawing at Hall on the field, a conversation that continued onto the sidelines, where the two had to be separated.

Given new life, Buffalo scored two plays later to take a 14-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Macdonald insisted the dust-up wasn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

"Well there is some frustration there," Macdonald said. "Look, our guys are connected, and they have each other's backs. They are emotional. There are going to be flare-ups and stuff. Seems like it calmed down. Wasn't a smart penalty. Just that's not how we train our guys to attack quarterbacks, so wasn't a smart move."

You can argue that either the Seahawks never recovered, or the Bills simply reasserted their will more in the second half.

Buffalo scored the first three times it had the ball in the second half on drives of 69, 51 and 73 yards to put the game away.

The 51-yarder came after a Smith interception on a screen pass to Kenneth Walker III on a play that appeared doomed from the start.

"Just the way in which [we] started the second half, didn't get points; had a turnover; not the standard," Smith said. "And so when you talk about all the things we want to do well, I don't think we did any of those today. We've got to look at ourselves in the mirror and take it from there."

The bad news is the Seahawks have already gone down the mirror-looking road this year, specifically after a 36-24 loss to the 49ers on Oct. 10 that capped a three-game losing streak.

The Seahawks responded from a week of soul-searching to beat Atlanta last Sunday 34-14, and it seemed as if the ship has been righted.

It ran aground Sunday in a hail of mistakes, notably 11 penalties, and miscues.

The running-game numbers also continue to stick out like the sorest of the thumbs.

The hope was that with DK Metcalf out with a sprained knee, the running game could help pick up the slack Sunday. Instead it was merely flattened. The Seahawks' running backs didn't manage a run of longer than 5 yards all day.

The Seahawks are gaining just 89.3 yards per game on the ground while allowing 148.4, a disparity that simply can't last if they hope to make much of this season.

"I would say it's a major concern," Macdonald said of the offensive running game. "We've got to make it right."

Smith insisted effort and preparation weren't the issues.

"Extremely frustrating," Smith said. "I thought we prepared really well this week. I thought the guys were dialed in, we had great energy. Obviously, it didn't show up on game day today."

The upshot is a 4-4 record and falling back into a tie for first in an NFC West in which all four teams can suddenly claim to be in contention.

And for Macdonald, it's another week of long days and nights and hard talks trying to get the Seahawks back on track.

"Feel like it's too often we have had this conversation with you guys of going back to work on Tuesday and hitting this thing head on and seeing if we can get this thing turned around against a good Rams team coming in here," he said.

It's suddenly a better Rams team than it appeared as it would be a few weeks ago with receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua healthy and L.A. coming off a win over the Vikings on Thursday to improve to 3-4.

An hour before Sunday's game, and just after having an animated on-field conversation with Tom Brady, in town as part of the Fox broadcast crew, Seahawks general manager John Schneider spoke of the state of his team during his weekly appearance on the pregame radio show.

"We're continuing this process of figuring out who we are," Schneider said on Seattle Sports 710.

Schneider noted that the team has "a new coaching staff" and that "that takes a minute" to come together.

Turning his attention to the upcoming game Schneider said the contest against a Bills team considered a legitimate Super Bowl contender would be "another indicator of where we are headed."

The indication he got a few hours later undoubtedly wasn't the one he was hoping for.