Slaughtered in Seattle

The Seattle Seahawks took it to the Bills right from the opening kickoff and handed Buffalo its third loss of the season with a 26-16 shellacking. The first half was brutal for the Bills, especially their defense as Seahawks quarterback Jon Kitna dissected the Bills secondary like a skilled surgeon. Seattle took a 23-0 lead in the second quarter before Steve Christie finally got the Bills on the board right at the end of the first half.

"I think it is probably coaching, and I'm talking me first," Phillips said about the Bills digging themselves a hole early. "We have to get them more prepared. We can't give the ball away, and we can't let them run the kickoff back or score on the first drive every time.

"The secondary was terrible," fumed Phillips. "Coverage was terrible. Crossing routes in zones . . . nobody saw them coming across . . . it was just on and on."

Sam Adams sacks Doug Flutie

Having spotted the Seahawks 17 points in the first half, they had a lot of catching up to do. Doug Flutie sparked a comeback that had Bills fans hoping for another miracle finish. He threw touchdown passes to Peerless Price and Jay Riemersma to cut Seattle's lead to 26-16. Flutie had the Bills moving and got into Seahawk territory again when he was sacked by Michael Sinclair and fumbled away the ball, ending the drive and more importantly any chance of catching the Hawks.

The Bills dug their hole early and never were able to climb back out. The defense was deplorable especially the secondary, which let Hawk receivers break through and make big grabs all day. Kitna, in his first year as a Seahawk starter, was the game's top player with his laser-perfect passes. He passed 30 times, completing 17 for 276 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kitna threw half his passes in tight and double coverage, threading the needle with amazing accuracy. His receivers must be given a lot of the credit as they made some spectacular receptions. Derrick Mayes caught the two Kitna TD passes, one went for 43 yards. On the day, he was the top receiver catching 6 for 106 yards. Todd Peterson got all the other Seahawks points as he kicked 4 field goals and two extra points.

On the opening kickoff, Ahman Green broke a couple tackles and raced up the right left sideline with only Steve Christie to beat. The Bills kicker was able to force him out of bounds, but not before he was able to pick up 54 yards to set the Seahawks up in perfect field position. After three plays netted the Hawks 11 yards, Kitna threw to his big tight end Deems May who was all alone at the Bills 12. He got down to the 8. From there, Kitna threw a strike to Mayes for the TD.

After the Bills punted on their first series, Kitna came back and drove the Seahawks right down the field again. However, the Bills defense finally held and forced Peterson to kick a 40-yard field goal. Flutie had a pass picked off by Jay Bellamy to set up another field goal by Peterson, making it 13-0 Seattle.

A second Flutie pass was intercepted in the second quarter, this time by Kerry Joseph. The Bills had driven all the way down to the Seattle 29 yard line when Flutie threw down the middle for Bobby Collins. Instead, Joseph picked it off ending the 43-yard drive that should have produced points.

"I put the ball about a foot behind him, on his backside shoulder," Flutie said. "That one was definitely on me."

Derrick Mayes breaks through for a 43 yard touchdown reception

On second down, Kitna threw a bomb to Mayes who split the seem and beat Antoine Winfield badly. Kitna's pass fell right into Mayes hands and he dashed untouched into the endzone for the touchdown. The play covered 43 yards and made the Bills secondary look like they were sleepwalking in Seattle.

"We had a double on 87," Bills defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell said . "The safety went the wrong way on it. It shouldn't have happened. It was one where we had made the corrections in practice because it was done incorrectly."

The Seahawks then drove down 49 yards on 9 plays. Green had runs of 16 and 13 yards and Kitna hit Sean Dawkins for 20 yards to set up Peterson to kick a 42-yard field goal to put Seattle in what seemed a insurmountable 23-0 lead.

Flutie passed to Kenneth Williams for 26 yards and with time running out, Christie was good on a 50 yard field goal.

"We played like garbage the first half," Bills center Jerry Ostroski said after the game. "It's another week where we have nobody to blame but ourselves. We've got to figure it out pretty quick."

"We play man-to-man, double the guy (Derrick Mayes), and he catches a touchdown," said Phillips. "We played zone, and their guys ran free like nobody knew where they were. The second half we started playing, but it was too late."

The Bills controlled the clock, but not the scoreboard in the third quarter. They ate up 7:04 of the quarter on an 84-yard drive the ended when Flutie hit Peerless Price in the right corner for the Bills first touchdown of the game. However, Chris Mohr could not hang onto the snap for the extra point and the Bills still hadn't reached double digits.

"We've run the play time and time again and (the Seahawks) covered it," Price said of his touchdown catch. "That time, I got free and Doug (Flutie) threw a great ball and I made the catch."

The Bills tried to get back into the game by kicking an onside kick. Christie kicked it the required yardage and ran a yard behind the ball as it was traveling the distance where he promptly fell on it for the Buffalo recovery. However, the Bills could not even get a first down and failed to take of advantage of that huge opportunity.

The Hawks were able to drive down and get another field goal from Peterson, this time a 34-yarder to put Seattle up 26-9.

Price was the recipient of a 45-yard pass from Flutie midway through the final quarter. That led to a one yard touchdown toss by Flutie to Jay Riemersma to slim the Seahawks lead to 26-16.

With a little over 5 minutes to go, the Bills drove down to the Seattle 45. Michael Sinclair got around Richard Hicks and sacked Flutie, forcing a fumble that Sam Adams recovered, thus ensuring the victory.

"They knew we had to throw the ball most of the game," Flutie admitted. "They were pinning their ears back."

Flutie, who turned 37 on Saturday, didn't receive many presents from the Seahawks or their fans. The noise in the King Dome obviously caused Flutie to have problems calling signals and the Seahawks picked off 2 of his passes, sacked him 4 times and caused a fumble that eliminated all hope of a Buffalo comeback. Flutie passed fifty times, completing 24 for 294 yards. He also ran five times for 48 yards. The other two backs, Antowain Smith and Linton did not penetrate the Seattle front four too often. Smith ran ten times for 34 yards, while Linton carried 8 times for 23 yards.

Price had five receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown. He seemed to gain confidence as the game progressed. In the first half he dropped a couple passes that could have helped turn the tide.

"He looked like a rookie early; cost us an interception and those kind of things," Phillips said about Price's first NFL start. "But then later on, he came through for us. He's a talent. He just has to play. I think he'll get better as he goes along."

"The first half, I guess it was rookie jitters with my first game starting at this level," said Price . "I let a few slip through my hands that I should have caught. But as the game went on, I started to get more and more comfortable and started feeling relaxed out there."

Kamil Loud equaled Price's reception total of 5 for 55 yards and Williams had 4 grabs for 52. Andre Reed did not have a good day, as he dropped several passes and had one sail right through his hands. He had four receptions for 31 yards.

Having lost two straight and falling to 4-3, the Bills better get mean in a hurry if they don't want to fall from the pack. The Bills travel to Baltimore for a Halloween matchup with the Ravens next week.

Copyright © 1999 Bills Thunder & Rick Anderson, all rights reserved.