“That’s something they did,” Macdonald said. “It was more than they showed on tape in those situations, but you still have to be prepared for it, so I thought we had a solid plan. We could probably have a little more flexibility on that front to have even more answers.” Maybe a few more moves, so let’s take a look at the ones we’ve been talking about, I thought.

“You try to pay attention to where the ball is going the whole time to see if we can find some anchor points where we can play it or block it better. So there’s a combination of not trying to scrap what you have, but also maybe.” But it wasn’t good enough when they went to their big 12 employees.

Cook’s touchdown run, dominated in all phases, served as a microcosm for many of the problems facing Seattle’s porous run defense. The defensive line lost the battle at the line of scrimmage, the arrangement of linebackers behind them caused problems in exploiting the running game, and the defender had no resistance until he was already pushing toward the goal line, which should never happen in the congested red zone.

All afternoon, the Bills held their own against the Seahawks, who made the 190-pound Cook look like Earl Campbell as he seemingly bounced off tacklers several yards after contact with every touch of the football. He was able to continually build full steam by pushing the defensive line around snap after snap, while also finding massive cutback lanes on a regular basis. He averaged 6.5 yards per carry and had 111 rushing yards.

Even accounting for backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s kneeling, Buffalo became Seattle’s fourth straight opponent to surpass 155 rushing yards and score 164 on 34 carries, a healthy average of 4.8 yards per carry. In that span, three different runners have reached the 100-yard mark, as runners of all shapes and sizes enjoyed the pleasure of running through half-sized holes and making full-strength arm tackles.

Murphy was blunt in his assessment of the state of Seattle’s defense after being overrun again, saying the onus was on him and the defensive line to improve their play after letting the Bills run up and down the field all day , a trend that has become all too familiar this season.

“We couldn’t stop the run when we needed to,” Murphy said. “That was really the greatest thing. We just couldn’t stop it and were outplayed. We just have to get better.”

Macdonald, who is injured on the ground every week, wishes he had a simple solution to cure the Seahawks’ problems, citing both coaching and on-field performance as to blame for the ongoing woes. But between running fitness issues at the second level, poor tackling and issues setting the baseline, there is no all-encompassing panacea that will address a whole host of issues overnight.

As has been the case over the last month and with changes, everyone from the head coach to the reserve players needs to address these issues head on. While improvements are schematically part of the equation and Seattle’s defenders need to do a better job blocking and completing tackles, a change in mindset appears to be the biggest change that needs to be made after Buffalo physically abused them for four quarters has success for Macdonald’s team.

Ultimately, the Seahawks simply weren’t tough enough compared to most of their opponents, they weren’t able to handle the physicality at the point of attack, and they lacked the tenacity needed to finish plays that tripped up NFL defenders were brought. While this may seem like a physical problem, good run defenses at all levels must have a proud identity based on mental toughness and accountability at all three levels.

Unfortunately for Macdonald and his staff, the Seahawks’ current defense has yet to demonstrate such an identity, as evidenced again on Sunday by the displeased chirping of boo birds. In a copy cat league, opponents will continue as the Bills did, rushing behind strong personnel groupings, until the players themselves are able to display such a shift in mindset on the field and this charade , who is unable to stop the run, is won. I won’t get to the end so quickly.

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