The Buffalo Bills beat the Seattle Seahawks to move to 7-2 for the first time since 1993.
That means for the seventh time this season, we start with the Arrows pointing Up:
ARROW UP:
Josh Allen
Holy cow was Allen good in this one, especially in the first half. The Bills quarterback started incredibly hot and stayed that way for most of it, connecting on 13-of-15 first quarter passes, and 24-of-28 in the first half for 282 yards by halftime. He only threw 10 passes in the second half, but still connected on seven of them to finish 31-for-38 (81.5%) for 415 yards and three touchdown passes. Allen added another 14 yards and one touchdown rushing, for a four-touchdown day.
Stefon Diggs
Diggs led all receivers with nine catches for a game-high 118 yards, making big plays all day, including three catches that went for over 20 yards each.
John Brown
Brown wasn't far behind Diggs, catching eight passes for 99 yards, including a huge 33-yard short catch and long run on a critical 3rd-and-16 from the Seahawks' 35-yard line with the Bills up by 10. That play set up another touchdown that the Bills really needed.
Gabriel Davis
The Bills rookie wideout only had four catches, but they went for a total of 70 yards, averaging a huge 17.5 yards per-catch, including one touchdown.
Brian Daboll
The Bills offensive coordinator had a terrific game plan, and stuck to it. Daboll spread the field and attacked the worst pass defense in the league, daring the Seahawks to cover all their weapons, and they couldn't. The Bills didn't care to really run the ball at all until it was time to kill some clock in the fourth quarter. In the first half, Allen threw the ball 28 times and the Bills only ran it three times, including once by Allen. 28-3 pass-to-run! On their first four possessions, the Bills scored four times, including three touchdowns, on a total of 29 plays. That's incredible efficiency and a nod to Daboll having a great game plan to start.
Sean McDermott/Leslie Frazier
Sure, the Bills gave up 34 points, but the reality is they had a very solid game plan on defense against the league's top-scoring offense. McDermott and Frazier used scheme and personnel to confuse the Seahawks and quarterback Russell Wilson. Notably, they played a ton of nickel defense, but on top of that, matched up their fifth defensive back by down and distance, including personnel. Siran Neal, Dean Marlowe, and Taron Johnson all played valuable rotating snaps. Then, they got aggressive with their linebackers. Tremaine Edmunds and A.J. Klein were extremely active all day. They didn't stay back and try to slow Seattle down. Instead, they were aggressive and attacked and dictated play.
A.J. Klein
No one saw this coming. Klein had been getting vilified by Bills fans and media for several weeks, looking slow and unathletic, and a huge drop-off from Matt Milano. On Sunday, he may have been the best defensive player on the field for either team. He filled up the stat sheet with five tackles, including one for a loss, two sacks, four quarterback hurries, a pass break up, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. He was making huge plays all afternoon.
Tremaine Edmunds
Klein's linebacker mate also had his best game of the season, leading all players for either team with 11 total tackles, including two for loss, a sack, a quarterback hurry, and a big pass breakup.
Jordan Poyer
Poyer played really, well, as he usually does. He finished second on the team with 10 tackles. He is among the league leaders in tackles for all defensive players in the NFL. But it was his timely interception early in the game that really gave the Bills defense even more life and confidence. After the offense had scored to put the Bills up 14-0, the Seahawks came right back down the field and were poised to get on the scoreboard. They faced a 4th-and-goal at the Bills' five-yard line, Wilson rolled right and tried to squeeze a ball to the back of the end zone, but Poyer was there to pick it off for the first turnover of the game.
Jerry Hughes' big plays
Hughes made two of the bigger plays of the game for the Bills' defense. First, on the Poyer interception above, he held containment perfectly on Wilson, not allowing him to get outside, staying on his feet and in front of him and forcing Wilson to throw the ball into the traffic where Poyer was. Then, on the third play of the second half, Hughes chased Wilson down from behind, chopped at the ball and knocked it loose, collecting a sack and a forced fumble. Tre'Davious White recovered it, setting up a scoring drive.
Front-four pressure
Finally, the Bills' front-four for really turned up the heat. They were aided by some blitzing from the linebackers and secondary, but the group as a whole did a great job to contain Wilson and knock him down. Hughes, Mario Addison, Justin Zimmer, Trent Murphy, and Vernon Butler combined for two sacks, three tackles for loss, and five quarterback hurries.
Four turnovers and points off of them
The Bills came into the game with 10 takeaways on the season. They had four on Sunday, including two fumble recoveries and two interceptions, a direct product of the aggressiveness they were playing with. All four turnovers also turned into offensive points, which were very much needed. The Bills scored a total of 16 points off Seahawks turnovers.
Third down defense
The Bills held the Seahawks to just 3-of-12 on third down conversions (25%). That's an extremely low percentage.
Andre Roberts
Roberts started the game with a 60-yard kick return on the opening kickoff, setting the Bills up for great field position on their opening drive at the Seahawks' 45-yard line. That set the tone right away for a quick-strike offense.
Tyler Bass and kick coverage
The Bills special teams units were very good all day, and their kick coverage didn't give the Seahawks any breathing room. Bass kicked off nine times and put eight of them into the end zone for touchbacks, forcing Seattle to start at their 25-yard line each time. But when the ball was brought out, they weren't any better, with the Bills holding them to 17 yards on their only return, which was ended by a huge hit by Darryl Johnson. The average drive start for the Seahawks on the day was their own 24-yard line. Bass missed a 61-yard field goal at the end of the first half, but otherwise connected on all eight of his other kicks, including five extra points and three field goals.
ARROW DOWN:
Field goals and not touchdowns off turnovers
It was great that the Bills scored all four times off their takeaways, but three of those four scores were field goals, despite starting two of those drives at the Seahawks' 23- and 19-yard lines, respectively.
End of first half offensive sequence
The Bills were ahead 24-10 and had the ball at the Seahawks' 42-yard line with 24 seconds left before halftime and still with one timeout remaining. They faced a 2nd-and-4 with a great chance to gain a first down, more yards, and get closer for a field goal attempt. However, Allen threw an incomplete pass, then was sacked on third down, and the line of scrimmage never moved, forcing Bass to attempt a 61-yard field goal, which was no good.
Too much pressure allowed in second half
The Bills did a great job of protecting Allen throughout the first half. The Seahawks couldn't generate any pressure at all, but then they started bringing a ton of pressure in the second half and it worked. The Bills really struggled, at times, both finding where players were coming from, and then simply getting beat one-on-one.
Run game efficiency
The Bills had no intent on running the ball much, but when they did, they didn't get the production they'd like. They ran the ball a total of 19 times, but only for 34 yards. Allen and Zack Moss both had touchdown runs, from the one- and three-yard lines, respectively, but the team as a whole averaged only 1.8 yards per-carry, and their longest run all day was seven yards.
Big plays/blown coverages
As well as the Bills defense played most of the day, they also gave up too many big plays, and a few on blown coverages. The Seahawks came into the game with six pass plays of at least 40 yards (second in the NFL), and the Bills had only allowed one all season, but Seattle had three of them on Sunday, including a 55-yard touchdown to David Moore on a clear blown coverage, and a short screen pass that resulted in a 50-yard gain. Wilson also hit tight end Will Dissly for a big 26-yard gain after another blown coverage. There was no one around him. That was one of five Seahawks pass plays of at least 20 yards.
Red zone offense
The Bills had the ball inside the Seahawks' 20-yard line seven times, but only converted four of those into touchdowns (57%).
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