ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ 31-10 victory against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Lumen Field:
1. From start to finish, the Bills’ defense gave its most dominant performance of the season as the team firmly established its place among the NFL’s best.
The tone was set from the game’s first play from scrimmage when Greg Rousseau batted down a Geno Smith pass. He batted down a second on third-and-9 to force a punt.
For the second game in a row, Rousseau was a highly disruptive force. Smith, who entered the game as the NFL’s leader in passing yards, was held to 212 yards through the air and had an interception.
The Bills limited the Seahawks to a mere 12 total net yards in the first quarter, with the last nine not coming until just before the clock expired.
Buffalo’s run defense has had its issues this season, but not on Sunday. The Seahawks had only one rushing yard in the first half and finished with a mere 32 yards on the ground and average of 1.9 per carry.
How thorough was the Bills’ defensive stranglehold of Seattle’s offense? Tackle Austin Johnson got his first interception of his nine-year career to kill a promising Seahawks drive in the third quarter. Actually, it was the first pick of his football-playing life.
2. Josh Allen had a solid performance, which was more than enough despite facing an opponent that has shown offensive explosiveness.
Before being replaced by Mitch Trubisky with 5:02 left to play, Allen completed 24 of 34 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns. Allen also threw his first interception of the season, and first in 301 pass attempts, on the way to a passer rating of 102.9.
But the Bills’ defense prevented it from doing any damage by stopping the Seahawks on fourth-and-goal from the Buffalo 1. Of course, it helped that Smith had his foot stepped on by an offensive lineman and tripped and fell while dropping back.
Asked if it was one of the Bills’ best games of their 6-2 start, Allen said, “Yeah, it’s up there.”
3. Keon Coleman had a second straight strong performance as he continues to find his rookie groove.
He caught five passes on seven targets for 70 yards and a TD. Coleman is beginning to run more precise routes and is learning how to create separation from defenders by using his 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame to the fullest.
It was noteworthy that Amari Cooper, in his second game since joining the Bills in a trade with the Cleveland Browns, had a much quieter day than he did last week against Tennessee. He had only one reception on two targets for three yards.
4. James Cook had his way with the Seahawks’ defense.
He rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns, while averaging 6.5 yards per carry. He consistently found gaping holes and showed good patience to allow them to develop.
The Bills finished with 164 rushing yards and averaged 4.8 per attempt. Their offensive line continually shows it can be highly physical, while also providing good pass protection.
5. For the second time this season, the Bills were part of a game with an insane number of penalties.
An NFL season-high 24 were accepted in the game. The Bills had a season-high 13.
Unlike their victory against the New York Jets on Oct. 14, when 22 penalties were accepted (11 for each team), most of these calls were legitimate.
The infractions obviously did nothing to interfere with the ease with which the Bills won the game. But the sloppiness and lack of discipline is something they shouldn’t ignore.
“There’s still some things to work on, penalties being one of them,” Sean McDermott said. “We’ve got to continue to work on that and get those things cleaned up.”