|
|
 |
Seahawks Rout Bills 50-17
Pathetic effort officially eliminates Bills from playoff race.
by Steve Saslow
The Skinny:
The Seahawks blew the Bills out of the Rogers Centre early and never took their foot off the pedal in a 50-17 blowout of Buffalo. The Bills are now officially knocked out of the playoff race although it has been obvious for weeks that this team would miss the playoffs for an NFL high 13th consecutive season. This is the first Bills team to give up 50 or more points twice in one season. Seattle scored the first five times they touched the football as Russell Wilson ran for three first half touchdowns in opening up a 31-7 lead. The Bills responded with 10 points in the final 1:10 of the first half to pull within two touchdowns. Ryan Fitzpatrick than turned the ball over the first three times they had the ball in the second half that allowed the Seahawks to open up a 47-17 lead. Pete Carroll than showed no class by faking a punt in the fourth quarter that led to another field goal. C.J. Spiller and Stevie Johnson scored touchdowns for the Bills.
The Turning Point:
First Third Quarter Series: The Bills had just crawled back into the game before the half and then Fitzpatrick threw an interception that ended any thought of a comeback early in the third quarter. Lynch scored a touchdown two plays later to give the Seahawks a three touchdown lead again.
The Big Drive:
The First Drive: Seattle went 76 yards in 10 plays. They actually went 83 yards in nine plays after a sack on the first play. Wilson completed all four of his passes including two third down conversion passes. He ran it in the final 14 yards for the score.
Stat I Did Like:
Johnson's Stats: Stevie Johnson played hard all game long and finished with a season high 8 catches for 115 yards.
Stat I Didn't Like:
Wilson's Stats: The Seattle QB ran for 92 yards on 9 carries and 205 yards passing. He ran for three touchdowns and threw for a fourth.
Quick Slants:
- The Bills won the toss and as usual elected to defer. The Seahawks marched down for an easy touchdown.
- The Bills had a false start penalty on Cordy Glenn before they snapped the ball from scrimmage the first time. The Bills lost nine yards on the series as they went three and out.
- Seattle QB Russell Wilson had 67 yards passing to go along with 59 rushing yards to account for 126 of Seattle's 134 yards on their first two possessions.
- The turf looked really bad as it usually does at the Rogers Centre. Rian Lindell slipped on a first quarter kickoff and it went only to the nine yard line. There were several other slips as well.
- The battle of third round draft picks was no contest. Russell Wilson had a fantastic day throwing and running with the ball while T.J. Graham dropped four passes. Nix stands by his decision to move up for Graham with Wilson on the board.
Key Matchup Results:
The winners of the battles highlighted in our preview article:
RB C.J. Spiller vs. LB Bobby Wagner: Winner: Spiller. He went over 100 yards in the final minute of the game but it didn't matter in this one.
KR/PR Leodis McKelvin vs. KR/PR Leon Washington: Winner: Washington. McKelvin did not play and Washington did a decent job returning kicks. He had a punt return for a touchdown nullified by a penalty.
DE Mario Williams vs. RT Breno Giacomini: Winner: Giacomini. Wilson got a lot of his yards on the ground because Williams did not contain the edge.
WR Stevie Johnson vs. CB Richard Sherman: Winner: Johnson. He had a solid game against the banged up secondary of Seattle with his best numbers of the year.
Keys To The Game Results:
How the keys highlighted in our preview article turned out:
1. Limit Beast Mode: Failure! He just totally dominated the Bills and had 113 yards on just 10 carries.
2. Finish Strong: Failure! The Bills collapsed in the second half after making a bit of a rally before halftime.
3. Be Aggressive: Failure! They just sat back and got beat badly.
My Take:
What is left to say? This was reminiscent of so many blowout road losses but what makes this worse is that the game was considered a home game! Excuse me if I forget that since there seemed to be more Seahawk fans than Bills fans. They proved once again that they can't hang with good teams, especially away from the Ralph. They showed no heart and just didn't show up. That should prove they need a new direction next season but unfortunately with nobody really in charge of the organization we can't even count on that happening.
What's Ahead:
The Bills continue playing out the string as they head to Miami to try and claw out of the basement of the AFC East.
Gameballs
Stevie Johnson - Had his second 100 yard receiving game of the season.
C.J. Spiller - He also never gave up finishing with a 100 yards rushing game and going over 1,000 yards for the season.
Goats
Ryan Fitzpatrick - His three second half turnovers showed once again the Bills can't compete with good teams.
T.J. Graham - I lost track after his fourth dropped pass.
Mario Williams - Did nothing to slow down Wilson.
Cordy Glenn - He was called for three false start penalties.
Player Of The Week
Stevie Johnson - He fought hard and showed more heart than any other player on the field.
 Positional Breakdown and Grades
NFL.com Gamebook
Seahawks Game Preview
Gameday Homepage
|
|
at 