Sunday, October 27 at 4:05 p.m. ET
Lumen Field, Seattle, Washington
Weather: Upper 50s and rain
Latest line: Bills-3, over/under 46
Seattle is not an easy road trip, and their 12th man is perennially among the best in the NFL. How good are these 2024 Seahawks? In relation to the Jets and the Titans? A quick power ranking sees the Bills in the #4-6 range and the Seahawks #11-15. Likely just ahead of the Jets, while the Titans are in the bottom five. It’s among Bufffalo’s rarest matchups. The two teams never even met during the four Super Bowl run.
Who wins Sunday?
QB:
Geno Smith leads the NFL in passing yards. BUT he has put up such numbers with 90 more passing attempts than Josh Allen. TDs/Int is more relevant: Geno 8/6, Josh 12/0. That’s z-e-r-o. Even the haters are noticing. Advantage Bills
Run game weapons:
Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet are one of the NFL’s better tandems, but the run game is secondary in the Seahawks offense. Weather and some Bills injuries should have Seattle leaning more heavily into the run game this week. It looks like more and more of a Cook/Davis time share going forward for the Bills. which is the best case scenario. If there is a slight edge to be given, Ty Johnson breaks the deadlock. Slight advantage Bills.
Passing game weapons:
It looks like DK Metcalf will miss the game, which is a break for the Bills. At the moment he is a top five WR in the NFL and a monument to head scratching drafting by well-paid GMs. Yes. Andy Isabella was picked before Metcalf. The Seahawks still have Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Tyler Lockett as well as Walker and TE Noah Fant, so Geno should still have some options. For the Bills, the best is yet to come. Cooper, Shakir, Kincaid, and Coleman going forward should dominate the snaps and targets, and the offense in general is finally going to fire on all cylinders. In the absence of DK, Advantage Bills.
Offensive line:
The last updated offensive line rankings have the Bills #6 and Seattle #29. Hope that eases some worried minds. Seattle is on RT3 already. Advantage Bills.
Run Defense:
By the current numbers, it’s an area of relative weakness for both teams. While I’m leaning toward the over, both teams should be able to run the ball. The absence of Terrel Bernard has to be mentioned, as does the run stopping ability of former Bill LB Tyrel Dodson. No advantage.
Pass defense:
It looks closer right now in the team statistics than I think it might be, based on the QBs played. As elusive as Geno might still be in his 30s, the big differences in OL talent should result in more pressure on him than the Seahawks will be able to deliver on Josh Allen. Slight Advantage Bills.
Special teams:
It was a good week for Tyler Bass, and Brandon Codrington is starting to make plays in the return game. The punting wasn’t good last week though, and “work in progress” is as far as I will go right now. One of the reasons the Seahawks overachieve is special teams. Advantage Seattle.
Coaching:
Pete Carroll was very hard to root for, so I might warm up to Seattle again with Mike MacDonald at the helm. Leslie Frazier is his Assistant Head Coach, which brings fond memories but not much impact on Sunday’s game. The trajectory of Bills Mafia’s opinion of Joe Brady last Sunday was as steep as it gets. I hope no one wants me to pick a rookie coach over McDermott. How did it work out for the McDaniels’ or Sirianni zealots? Advantage Bills.
Intangibles:
Distance travelled, weather, and crowd noise come to mind, but so does another week of Josh Allen and Amari Cooper working together. Even.
The Forecast:
If I am going to stress about road opponents, they need a better defense and offensive line than the Seahawks currently possess. Maybe the Colts, and surely the Lions, but not this week.
Buffalo 31 Seattle 20
The Pregame Plan:
Food:
Sushi and salmon don’t really pair with football for me, but Fish and Chips can give Chicken Wings a good run as far as Pub Food goes. Why wait until Fridays?
Beer:
The only Seattle Beer that makes it to Wegman’s is Elysian’s Space Dust, but it’s one of the best West Coast IPAs on the market. Be careful with the 8.2% ABV, and check the freshness dates.
Music:
You know you are getting old when Pearl Jam comes on at the grocery store, but their body of work falls into the timeless category
- Yellow Ledbetter
- Black
- Even Flow
- Better Man
Gonna have to break out a flannel shirt now!
Go Bills!
Editor’s babble: Many thanks to Joe Reagan for his contributions to our blog. You can also find Joe on Xwitter @joer869.
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