Three things we learned in Seahawks’ 31-10 loss to the Bills

SEATTLE – Here are three impressions from the Seahawks’ 31-10 loss to the Bills on Sunday.

• This was a thorough beatdown where the score was indicative of the performance

Seahawks fans started heading for the Lumen Field exits almost immediately after James Cook ran for his second touchdown of the second half with 11 minutes, 19 seconds remaining. Rightfully so. There was no more reason to stick around on a miserable afternoon.

After Cook’s TD, the Bills outgained Seattle 416-141. They had 28 first downs to Seattle’s nine at that point. The final numbers looked a little better after a couple of late drives, but this game was decided by a dominant three quarters from the Bills.

Buffalo finished with 445 total yards and had 38 minutes of offensive possession. It was just the sixth time in the last 20 years the Seahawks have lost by 21 or more points at home.

When Michael Dickson’s punting average might be your best highlight, that’s not a good day.

• The Seahawks aren’t good enough to be this sloppy

Turnovers. Bad tackling. Blown coverages. Bad snaps. Bad foot placement. Penalties. So many careless penalties.

All those elements added up to contribute in what is without question the most deflating and uncompetitive performance to date under new coach Mike Macdonald.

A bad snap from center Connor Williams from the Buffalo 2 and quarterback Geno Smith tripping over Williams’ foot on fourth-and-goal cost Seattle two prime scoring chances in the first half. Smith was intercepted trying to throw a screen pass into a crowd in the third quarter.

For Buffalo, Cook ran through tackles and Josh Allen ran away from pressure anytime he faced it.

And the penalties. Seattle was flagged 11 times with a handful more that weren’t accepted. The biggest was likely Derick Hall’s roughing the passer late in the first half, but ultimately it didn’t matter due to Buffalo’s dominance.

• This wasn’t Ryan Grubb’s best day as a play caller

Here are the first two offensive possessions by the Seahawks:

Pass, pass, pass, punt.

Run, run, pass, punt.

It took until the second quarter before Seattle found some type of rhythm on offense and again it was mostly predicated by the pass game.

The Seahawks finished with 32 yards rushing. Kenneth Walker III had nine carries for 12 yards and his longest run – 5 yards – came after he picked up a dropped lateral pitch from Smith and reversed field.

The offensive line remains a major issue, but Grubb needs to find a manageable amount of balance between run and pass earlier in the game.

DK Metcalf missing the game with his knee injury didn’t help either. The Seahawks had no downfield passing threat without Metcalf available. Their longest pass was a 20-yarder to AJ Barner. Tyler Lockett had one catch for 9 yards.