Seahawks vs Bills: 5 takeaways from Seattle’s exciting win
By Keith Myers
An exciting home win over the Buffalo Bills caps off a frustrating but successful first-half go the 2016 NFL season for the Seattle Seahawks.
The Seattle Seahawks escaped with a 31-25 win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. The defense faltered and the running game was nonexistent, but Russell Wilson, Jimmy Graham and Doug Baldwin delivered a nice win for Seattle.
Jimmy Graham!!
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) November 8, 2016
What a catch for 6! pic.twitter.com/oxKWVchlgK
The NFL’s TV ratings have been down all season, but an Prime Time game exciting game like this help fix things somewhat.
However this plays out, it's the most intense and entertaining NFL game of the year.
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) November 8, 2016
Let’s jump straight into my 5 takeaways:
1. The defense broke first, bent later
Seattle’s defense has employed the “bend but don’t break” philosophy for long stretches this season. Injuries and the lack of offensive help has made things very difficult for Seattle’s defensive squad this season.
Tonight they weren’t so fortunate. The Bills scored on their first three possessions, and continued to have success moving the football throughout the game.
Seattle’s defense simply could not get off the field. The Bills picked up first down after first down all game. The Seahawks gave up 12 out of 17 third down conversions.
Luckily, the defense stiffened later in the fourth quarter. The forced a punt on Buffalo’s 2nd-to-last possession, and then stopped the Bills on 4th down at the end of the game.
I think we can all agree that it would have been nice if the defense had stepped up just a little bit sooner, but at least they did so when it mattered.