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

SEATTLE — An hour before the game, and after 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.

He noted the team has “a new coaching staff. That takes a minute [to come together].’’

Focusing on the game to be played against a Buffalo team considered a favorite for the Super Bowl, Schneider said the contest “will be another indicator of where we are headed.”

Four hours later, when the final seconds mercifully ticked off on a 31-10 loss to the Bills at Lumen Field, Schneider had to hope the game isn’t really too much of an indicator of anything for the Seahawks.

In a game in which each team committed a season’s worth of bad decisions and ill-timed mistakes, it was the Bills who exerted their will every time it really mattered.

For all of the Seahawks’ apparent chances to make it a game, the Bills outgained them 448-233, scoring 24 points over four straight drives in the second and third quarters to take control.

The few times the Seahawks had a chance to make it a contest, they fell victim to their own errors, committing an embarrassing series of errors that will surely cause another long week of soul-searching.

The Seahawks had to settle for a field goal midway through the second quarter following a drive to the Buffalo 2-yard line when the game was just 7-0 after a shotgun snap from center Connor Williams flew far over the head of Geno Smith.

Moments later, an interception by Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe got them the ball at the 7, within tantalizing reach of a 10-7 lead.

Three plays moved it to the 1, where the Seahawks went for it on fourth-and-goal.

Smith tumbled backward after taking the snap and stumbling on the foot of Williams and was touched down for a loss back to the 7.

On Buffalo’s next possession, a late hit by the Seahawks’ Derick Hall on Bills quarterback Josh Allen nullified an incomplete pass on third down and gave Buffalo a first down at the Seahawks 12.

Teammate Jarran Reed lit into Hall for his mistake on the field, seeming to quickly understand the potential ramifications.

The two continued jawing once they got to the sidelines, TV cameras capturing them screaming at each other before being separated — about as fitting an image for this game as any.

Buffalo scored two plays later to take a 14-3 halftime lead.

The Bills scored the first three times they had the ball in the second half, one TD coming after Smith threw an interception on a screen pass.

At the point where Buffalo had a 31-3 lead, the Bills also had a 416-141 edge in yards, clearly illustrating that the Seahawks mistakes aside, the Bills were clearly the better team from start to finish.

The Seahawks offense seemed especially lacking playing without receiver DK Metcalf, who missed just his second career game with a sprained knee.

The Seahawks couldn’t get a running game going to compensate finishing with 32 rushing yards on 17 carries — just 16 on 12 by running backs Kenneth Walker III (12 on nine) and Zach Charbonnet (four on three).

And Buffalo’s four TDs came on drives of 90, 93, 51 and 73 yards.

The loss — which quickly quelled all the good feeling engendered by last week’s 34-14 win at Atlanta — dropped the Seahawks to 4-4 and into a tie with Arizona for first in the NFC West. The 49ers could join that group with a win over Dallas on Sunday night.

The Seahawks face a Rams team next Sunday that has won two in a row and beat the previously 5-1 Vikings on Thursday night, looking like themselves with receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua back.

In other words, things aren’t going to get any easier for a team that has lost four of five following a 3-0 start, all by nine points or more.

The Bills led 14-3 at the end of a bizarre first half, scoring touchdowns on their first and last possessions — the first a 90-yard march in which Buffalo penalties meant the Bills had to gain 110 yards total, and the second of 93.

What happened in between is almost hard to explain.

After two three-and-outs, the Seahawks mounted their one good drive of the half, moving from their own 9 to the Buffalo 2. But a first-down run by Walker was stopped for a 1-yard loss.

On second down came Williams’ snap over Smith’s head. Walker finally tracked it down at the 29 but could only get back to the 22.

That forced the Seahawks to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Jason Myers.

Three plays later, the Seahawks appeared to have created one of their biggest breaks of the season as Jobe — a practice-squad elevation in just his second game with the team — stepped in front of an Allen slant pass intended for Amari Cooper at the Bills 40 and returned it to the 7 before he was tackled by Allen.

The interception was the first of the season for Allen and his first in 301 attempts dating to the 2023 season.

Allen’s tackle would prove to be critical as three plays gained only six yards, including Walker being stopped for no gain on third down at the 1.

The Seahawks decided to go for it.

On a play in which backup center Olu Oluwatimi was in the game as an eligible lineman and went in motion, Smith took the snap from Williams and appeared to be stepped on as he did, stumbling backward while also running into guard Anthony Bradford, who had begun to pull.

Smith fell and was tagged down for a loss of six, turning the ball over to Buffalo.

Three plays later, Allen took off on a third down run but lost the ball, kicking it forward. With the ball bounding in the middle of the field, Buffalo’s Ty Johnson fell on it at the 23 for a first down.

The Bills swiftly got into field-goal range.

They appeared stopped on a third-and-7 at the Seahawks’ 24 when Allen threw incomplete on a play in which the Bills were also called for illegal motion.

Hall hit Allen after the pass, Allen flopping to the ground and drawing a flag and the ire of Reed.

That gave Buffalo a first down at the Seattle 12 instead of having to try a 42-yard field goal.

But the conversation continued once each player hit the sidelines and they had to be separated by teammates.

The Bills needed only two plays to cash in as Allen hit tight end Dalton Kincaid for a 12-yard TD with 18 seconds left and a 14-3 halftime lead.

The Bills dominated the first-half stats, outgaining Seattle 224-95, including holding the Seahawks to zero yards rushing overall, and just eight on seven attempts by running backs Walker and Charbonnet.

The indignity continued in the second half, reaching its nadir when the Bills went for it on a fourth-and-1 at their own 36-yard line, leading 24-3 early in the fourth quarter, not appearing worried they might be stopped. They weren’t as Allen picked up two, jump-starting a TD drive that made it 31-3 and sent most of the many fans wearing Bills gear heading for the exits.

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