The Buffalo Bills traveled west to face the Seattle Seahawks on a rainy day and made the most of their trip. Buffalo found some early success and capitalized on Seattle’s mistakes to claim an easy victory.

Geno Smith and the Hawks started with the ball, and our beloved Bills tried to stop the ball. Buffalo’s defense held strong and allowed a single yard, forcing a three-and-out. Brandon Codrington received the punt and tried to give Buffalo some more breathing room, but a flag to Cam Lewis set them back.

Josh Allen tried to match the tone and hit Dawson Knox on the first snap for 23 yards. James Cook and Ray Davis kept things going with another first attack, but flags were an early problem when an 11-yard sprinter by Davis was called back thanks to offensive holding by Alec Anderson. On 3rd and 4th, Dalton Kincaid moved the chains after Khalil Shakir ate off the flag in the distance. Another flag immediately followed, a false start by David Edwards.

The Seahawks came under pressure and landed a strip sack on Josh Allen, who you won’t find in the stat sheet due to illegal contact on Seattle’s Devon Witherspoon. A Josh Allen sneak kept the drive alive, and another promising play was ruined by another offensive call, this time against Connor McGovern. After forcing 3rd-and-10, Seattle attempted to force Buffalo into a field goal attempt, but an Allen connection with Keon Coleman for 25 yards brought Buffalo to the Seattle 16 for a first down. After one On James Cook’s 11-yard run, the tipped pass hovered dangerously in the air but was almost caught for a Coleman touchdown. A challenge from Josh Allen wasn’t quite enough, and a third down attempt at the goal line was a fantastically contested one-handed catch from Coleman that scored the game’s first score.

Seattle was now down seven yards and got the ball back at the 30-yard line thanks to a touchback by Tyler Bass. Buffalo’s defense picked up where it left off and Rasul Douglas dropped Kenneth Walker III, resulting in a two-yard loss. A four-yard gain and an incomplete pass led to the second three-pointer of the game.

At the 12-yard line after the punt, the Bills started with two first downs. A few deep throws and a false start dropped the Bills to 3rd-and-15. Khalil Shakir got most of it back, but not enough to prevent Sam Martin and the punting unit from being sent on. A rolling ball brought the Seahawks to their own nine.

The flags continued and Seattle pushed back four yards with an ineligible player downfield. They were close to the mark with a nine-yard completion at the end of the first quarter. Another completion gave the Seahawks their first down of the day. After finding their groove, Seattle drove down the field to the Buffalo two-yard line. A high snap caused the ball to fly backwards, ultimately losing 19 points. Seattle was now third-and-goal at the 22 and was hit for a delay of game. A quick pass made the field goal attempt a little easier and Buffalo escaped the drive and only gave up three points.

From the 30 on drive three, Buffalo seemed to be on the right track with a few chunk plays. Josh Allen looked short for Amari Cooper and was picked off by Josh Jobe for Allen’s first interception of the season. Due to the approaching rain and excellent field position, the Seahawks failed to reach the goal line on third down. Geno Smith went for it on fourth down, tripped and fell backwards allowing an easy tackle and turnover on downs.

Buffalo was now in the valley of the shadow of safety and struggled to move the chains until an accidental fumblerooski carried the ball to the 23-yard line. The breather approached midfield after the two-minute warning and appeared to help Buffalo stabilize its advance as the Bills pushed further into Seattle territory. An illegal shift and rough intrusion on the passer call looked like it would be offset, but led to a rare 5-on-15 regulation enforcement in which Buffalo capitalized on the 15-yarder (more on that in the recap of the Penalties this week, but not much more is expected). ). As the drive continued, Josh Allen found Dalton Kincaid for a 12-yard touchdown.

But Seattle had little time to get the ball back and decided to hunker down for the remainder of the game in hopes of a better second half.

One of “those plays,” the second half began with a flag on Spencer Brown for an offensive holding. Keon Coleman regained the necessary distance on the following short pass from Allen, ensuring a manageable second down. Josh Allen leaned heavily on the pass despite the weather and found Khalil Shakir for a 35-yard field flip pass. When Buffalo took the lead and scored, a delay in the game flag put Buffalo back five points. On the next play, Allen narrowly fended off a sack and threw the ball away. Seattle was forced to call a timeout with Buffalo facing third-and-goal in the fourth. The timeout would not be wasted as Buffalo would fail to score the touchdown. For the Tyler Bass crowd, his 27-yard attempt was good and put Buffalo ahead by 14 yards.

Rasul Douglas almost got away with the ball when Ed Oliver sank the pass with a QB hit. Now 2nd and 10, more pressure and a dropped pass was looking good for the Bills until an illegal contact flag was thrown on Christian Benford. Seattle began to find a rhythm again. Until Austin Johnson picked off Geno Smith in midfield. Austin Johnson, just like we all predicted.

After a few promising plays, a sideline skirmish led to unnecessary roughness flags being cleared. Another fantastic catch by Keon Coleman left the uprights in the dust to continue Buffalo’s push. James Cook almost made it to victory against a reeling Seattle defense. After a quick reset between downs, Buffalo called Cook’s number again for a two-yard touchdown.

Laviska Shenault returned the ball on the ensuing kickoff and was hit hard at the 20-yard line. Another botched snap hurt the Seahawks, and a bright spot on second down in the form of a 14-yard pass was negated by an offensive call. When a false start flag followed a second later, the Seahawks appeared to be on the verge of collapse. After a good scramble by Geno Smith resulted in him being hit on the sideline, Smith threw the ball to his opponent rather than the referee, resulting in a penalty. Now on 3rd-and-20, a short pass did little for Seattle’s momentum and was broken up by an illegal motion flag (rejected) to boot. With the third quarter almost over, Seattle trailed by three points and was forced to punt deep from its own end zone.

An incomplete deep shot ended Q3, and the final quarter saw two James Cook rushes that left Buffalo 4th-and-1. The Bills went for it, and the resulting Allen “sneak” kept things trending for Buffalo. Dawson Knox caught a 27-yarder and the Hawks implosion continued with a defensive pass interference call that gave Buffalo a free 11 yards. This and the next penalty were separated only by a 12-yard rush from James Cook. The five-yard drive put the Bills at the seven on 1st-and-5. The drive lasted just one more play, with Cook reaching the end zone again.

Seattle trailed by four points with less than a quarter to go and was hoping for a miracle. The Seahawks found plenty of passing yards, moved the ball well and found the end zone to cut Buffalo’s lead to 21. A false start and an incomplete pass led to a three-and-out, giving the Seahawks the ball back. A fumble on the punt pushed Seattle well back to their side of the field.

Seattle tried valiantly to climb back up, but the obstacles remained insurmountable. A sack on third down near midfield pushed the Seahawks back to within their own 34 points, and a delay of game (even after a Buffalo timeout) pushed them back even further. Seattle stumbled on 4th-and-24 in what should have been clear four-down territory.

With five minutes left and still leading by three points, Mitchell Trubisky came on for Josh Allen to end the game. A predictable run, run, run was stopped by Seattle. The final insult of the day came from a rain-soaked field. Damarion Williams slipped while batting and slid to where he had hoped to catch the ball. As the ball bounced off Williams, a waiting Mack Hollins picked it up.

With the ball back and in the goal area again, Ray Davis ran to the left side and slid to make sure he stayed in the field of play. With only two minutes of warning left to stop the clock and Davis’ run earning a first down, the game was one long commercial break and just a few more knockdowns before the Buffalo Bills won.