Buffalo Bills get straight A's after dominant performance

James Cook gained 8 yards on his first run and never looked back. He needed just 17 carries to rush for 111 yards and two touchdowns, leading a dominant ground attack. Rookie Ray Davis threw for 29 yards on six carries and quarterback Josh Allen added 25 yards on seven attempts, giving the team 164 yards on 34 carries. Even if something went wrong, everything turned out right in the end. Allen fumbled a wet ball on a scramble in the first half, but running back Ty Johnson was in the right spot to recover and maintained possession on a drive that ended with a touchdown.

Allen threw a perfect throw to tight end Dawson Knox for a 23-yard gain on the Bills' first offensive play from scrimmage, and the passing game took off. The quarterback threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns. Khalil Shakir and rookie Keon Coleman did most of the damage, combining for 14 catches, 177 yards and a touchdown. Coleman had 195 receiving yards in the last two games. “Our staff got him going,” Allen said of Coleman. “Knows what he’s doing. If he knows what he's doing when he runs, he's a damn good football player. He continues to play for us. And that's what you like to see from the young guy. And he's only going to get better.” Knox's two catches went for 50 yards, while Dalton Kincaid had four catches for 31 yards and a touchdown. Kincaid reached 100 career receptions in his second season, becoming the 54th member of the franchise to reach that number but only the fifth to do so in his first two seasons. Allen's two touchdown passes give him 181 for his career, putting Joe Ferguson second on the Bills' all-time list, behind only Jim Kelly (237).

The Seahawks ran 10 times in the first half. They gained 0 yards. It's the fifth time under Sean McDermott that the Bills have allowed a rushing yard or less in the first half of a game. Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker managed just 12 yards on nine attempts. “We knew they were going to challenge the line of scrimmage and they did, early on, and we were able to tone it down a little bit there, which helps make them more one-dimensional,” McDermott said. Cornerback Rasul Douglas had a nice tackle for loss in run support early in the game. Eli Ankou had three tackles in his first game on the active roster this season after being called up from the practice squad. Seattle did rush for a touchdown, but it didn't come until the fourth quarter as the Bills won 31-3.

Greg Rousseau picked off two passes on the Seahawks' first possession. In between, Taron Johnson made a tackle after gaining just 1 yard. On Seattle's second possession, Cam Lewis defended a pass that nearly turned into an interception, and Seattle punted again. The Bills finished the game with six passes defended, including an interception by Austin Johnson. Although rookie Javon Solomon got Smith's only single sack, the pass rush hit him five times, taking advantage of the run defense that made the Seahawks one-dimensional. The pass rush will get Von Miller back next week as he has now served the final game of his four-game suspension. Taron Johnson (eight tackles) and Douglas (six) were the Bills' two leading tacklers.

A blindside block against Lewis on Brandon Codrington's first punt return cost the Bills 9 yards of field position. Codrington probably shouldn't have fielded Seattle's second punt, which traveled 68 yards. He managed a 12-yard return, but only reached the Bills' 12-yard line. McDermott wasn't particularly happy with the field position after those two punts, but there were some positives on special teams. Tyler Bass didn't have any stressful kicks, but he was perfect again. Sam Martin had a nice bounce on one of his punts, which resulted in the ball going out of bounds in the Seahawks' 10. Martin averaged 49 net yards on three punts. The punt coverage unit had an advantage in the fourth quarter when Mack Hollins jumped on a botched punt.

So much for those slow starts. The Bills were ready to go right away, which is a credit to the coaching staff. Despite three penalties, the offense marched 90 yards on its opening drive. That speaks well for the game plan put together by Joe Brady. Defensively, Bobby Babich's group managed two threes and outs in a row. Yes, the defense had a few lucky moments in the first half due to Seattle's mistakes, but teams don't have to apologize for their luck. The Bills made a long trip to a hostile stadium look easy. You can't ask for more. “A great week of preparation led to this,” McDermott said. “Focus. The leadership in the locker room. Guys filling in for other guys who are injured.”