Buffalo Bills running back James Cook (4) rushes the ball during the second half of Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle.
AP Photo
SEATTLE — Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes and the surging Buffalo Bills turned his first interception of the season into an afterthought, pummeling the Seattle Seahawks 31-10 on Sunday.
James Cook rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns for the AFC East-leading Bills (6-2), who were in control throughout and won their third straight. Meanwhile, the Seahawks descended into chaos, with two defensive linemen throwing punches at each other on their own sideline.
Allen finished 24 of 34 for 283 yards. He ran his streak of passes without an interception to 300 before Josh Jobe picked him off in the second quarter. But Seattle (4-4) turned the ball over on downs after that pick, with quarterback Geno Smith stumbling after he took the snap on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
“That was huge,” Allen said. “I hate throwing turnovers, but I made the tackle. Coach talks about all the time if something like that happens, not to put your head down. Go make a tackle and let your defense come back on the field because you never know what’s going to happen.”
Allen responded by leading a 12-play, 93-yard drive that concluded with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Dalton Kincaid for a 14-3 lead.
Buffalo also went 90 yards on 14 plays after the opening kickoff, and Allen found Keon Coleman for a 2-yard TD to finish a drive that lasted 9:07.
The Bills became the first team to have two TD drives of 90 yards or more in a half since 2022, when Carolina did it against Detroit. Buffalo outgained Seattle 445 yards to 233 and held the ball for more than 38 minutes.
“We feel like every play we come out there and execute at a high level, I don’t think anybody really can stop us but ourselves,” Coleman said.
Smith went 21 of 29 for 212 yards and an interception for the Seahawks, who were largely inept on offense. They rushed for only 32 yards and scored their only touchdown in garbage time.
“That’s the result of good football team that outplayed us in three phases and then it gets out of hand when you’re doing the things we we did today,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. “The long and short of it is we got outplayed, we got outcoached, and we’ve got to go make it right.”
Seattle had the ball at the Buffalo 2 with a chance to tie the game midway through the second quarter, but center Connor Williams sent a shotgun snap over Smith’s head that skittered past the 30. Kenneth Walker III recovered the fumble, but the Seahawks settled for Jason Myers’ 38-yard field goal.
Jobe, elevated from the practice squad before the game, beat Amari Cooper to the ball on Allen’s first pass of the next drive, and the cornerback picked it off at the Buffalo 40 and returned it to the 7. Allen’s streak of 300 passes without an interception, including playoffs, was a franchise record.
A second mistake by Williams kept Seattle out of the end zone when he stepped on Smith’s foot on the fourth-down play and the quarterback fell.
Derick Hall was flagged for a late hit on Allen that extended Buffalo’s subsequent drive. Hall and teammates were shouting at each other and on the sidelines for the rest of the half. The Seahawks were called for three personal fouls in the game, including one by Smith.
Hall and fellow defensive lineman Jarran Reed exchanged punches on the sideline and had to be separated.
“He loves the game, I love the game, and in that moment I think things got heated,” Hall said. “But you know, he’s a leader. He’s the leader of our group. And when stuff hits the fan, you have to lean on those guys. And maybe we both could do something a little bit better.”
With Buffalo leading 17-3 in the third quarter, defensive end Casey Toohill pressured Smith, who was retreating to throw a screen pass. Smith tried to loft it over Toohill, but he tipped the ball, which bounced off Walker’s hands and into the arms of defensive lineman Austin Johnson.
Cook scored from 2 yards out to put Buffalo up 24-3 with 2:01 left in the third. He added a 7-yard scoring run early in the fourth to send Seattle to its fourth loss in five games.
No rush
Buffalo held Seattle to 1 yard rushing in the first half, the second-fewest rushing yards the Bills had given up in a half this century. The Bills held the Indianapolis Colts to minus-11 yards in a half in 2010. Walker had six carries for 5 yards in the first half.
Injuries
Bills: WR Curtis Samuel (foot) was inactive.
Seahawks: WR DK Metcalf was inactive with a knee injury. … LB Dre’Mont Jones left in the second half with a shoulder injury, but returned to the game.
Up next
Bills: Host Miami on Sunday.
Seahawks: Host the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.