All Duds and No Studs in Seahawks 31-10 loss to Bills
The Studs and Duds list giveth, and the Studs and Duds list taketh away. Last week when the Seahawks had their most complete victory of the season, I gave the team an All Studs edition. Well, we at Seahawks Wire are nothing if we're not fair. After the worst loss of the season, we're going All Duds in Week 8.
Before we begin, I will give a special shoutout to Ernest Jones IV. In his first game as a Seahawk, Jones had 15 total tackles which led the team. He presents a clear upgrade to Jerome Baker.
Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let us dive in.
No. 1 Dud - Connor Williams
Connor Williams has played admirably this year despite the overall poor collective performance by the Seahawks offensive line. But on Sunday, Williams was terrible. Seattle could not get the ground attack moving as the Bills routinely blew up the interior Seahawks line. To make matters worse, Williams had an uncharacteristically high snap on the goal line, sailing the ball all the way back behind the 20-yard line. Later, once again the goal line, Williams tripped Geno Smith on 4th down to come away with absolutely zero points.
No. 2 Duds - Pass rush
Seattle's roller coaster season is no better embodied by how the pass rush is faring. Some weeks, like Atlanta, they can look suffocating. In others, like Week 8 against Buffalo or Week 6 against the 49ers, they are nonexistent. The Seahawks defensive line clearly struggles against quarterbacks who can move, which is a brutal mismatch when it comes to Josh Allen. On Sunday, Seattle did not register a quarterback sack or even a single quarterback hit.
No. 3 Duds - Rush defense
This defensive front cannot consistently get after quarterbacks, and they also cannot stop opposing rushing attacks. Like, at all. Another week and another 100+ yard performance from a running back facing the Seahawks. On Sunday, Buffalo's James Cook bulldozed his way to 111 yards and a touchdown, as the Bills had 164 as a team as well.
No. 4 Dud - Seattle's slow starts
The Seahawks had a penchant for slow starts under Pete Carroll. But under Mike Macdonald, it has become their calling card at this point. We are only eight games into the Macdonald era, but this team has looked far too sluggish out the gate in five of them.... including Week 8 against Buffalo. It's becoming the same story: Seattle starts slow, they fall behind, they cant sustain drives, and then they are forced to abandon the run as Geno Smith is forced to throw far more than he should. At some point, this becomes a coaching issue getting the team prepared.
What's next?
The Seahawks will be back at Lumen Field next Sunday for a 1:25 pm Pacific game against the Los Angeles Rams. It will be Seattle's first meeting with the Rams this year, after being swept by them in 2023.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: All Duds and No Studs in Seahawks 31-10 loss to Bills
