ORCHARD PARK, Melbourne — Not one ESPN analyst picked the Buffalo Bills to defeat the Seattle Seahawks for Sunday’s matchup. The Seahawks came in as three-point favorites.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen and company had other plans for the result they wanted.
While all the talk leading up to Sunday’s game was about Russell Wilson, it was Josh Allen who played the best game of his career. Allen completed 31 of 38 passes for 415 yards and had four total touchdowns in the Bills' 44-34 win against the Seahawks.
This was his second 400-yard game of the season. He joins Drew Bledsoe as the only other Bills quarterback to throw for 400 yards twice in the same year.
Allen also played through the loss of his grandmother. The Bills' 44 points is the Buffalo’s highest point total since 2016.
“Any win is a great win in the National Football League,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “Let's be honest, that's a really good football team that we played today, and so was the Patriots.
"Don't get me wrong it's just this week to take our game to where the guys took it, they earned it. They worked their butts off, they were focused, and I just wish our fans could have enjoyed it with us.”
Added Allen: "You know sitting here at 7-2, we're excited what we can do and how we can play. We understand that seven wins doesn't get you into the playoffs."
Not only did Allen play lights, out but so did the defense. Questions loomed all week if this Bills defense could handle Wilson and the many offensive threats that Seattle has. When the clock hit "0" to end the fourth quarter, those questions were erased.
They talked about the importance of taking the football away against this high-powered Seattle offense, and they did just that. Buffalo won the turnover battle 4-0 and produced five sacks against an elite opponent.
“As a defense we like to get after the quarterback,” safety Micah Hyde said. “Our front line was able to do that, then on the back end the ball was thrown, and we made plays on the ball.
"Tre'Davious made a great play, Jordan Poyer made a great play, our defensive line was eating. AJ Klein had the day of his life coming off the edge. He had a couple of sacks. When Leslie Frazier is calling an aggressive game and our defensive line is eating like that, then that’s when we play at our best."
The Bills now sit at 7-2 for the first time since 1993 and have a dominant lead in the AFC East.