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What The Bills Said Following Their 31-10 Win Over The Seahawks

Interviews, transcripts, and press conferences from the Seahawks' Week 8 31-10 loss to the Bills at Lumen Field

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Featuring postgame quotes from the following:

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Head Coach Sean McDermott

SEAN MCDERMOTT: Good to get a win. Anytime you can win, we'll take it. It's hard to win in this league, especially on the road, especially here. They have a track record of playing great at home. A great fan base. I thought our fan base showed up today, man, big time. Not surprising, but never taking it for granted. The red, white and blue of the Buffalo Bills showed up all the way out here in the Northwest. And couldn't be more grateful. Winning the line of scrimmage, that's where it starts every week. I thought our O-line and D-line did a phenomenal job. Great week of preparation. The three-and-out by the defense the first two series, two three-and-out drives. The first one led to a nine-minute drive by our offense. Took up a lot of clock, which helped with an explosive offense on the other side. We were able to double dip, score before the half, score after half. The turnover that we had, the offense did a good job, although we never want a turnover, getting us to line up again, the defense went out and held them, which was big from a momentum standpoint. And then the second half, I thought the second half, getting off to a good start, scoring, like I said. And then we got the takeaway. Austin Johnson got the big takeaway, which I think led to seven as well. Some good things by the special teams. I like the kickoff coverage. I think it was third quarter at that point. Very physical, swarming type of coverage. Still a lot to work on. Penalties being one of them. Some things that we did, some decisions that we made that led to some poor field position. So we've got to continue to work on that and get those things cleaned up.

But this was a pretty good performance, wouldn't you say?

SEAN MCDERMOTT: By our fans, for sure. By our fans, yep. Did you hear them out there? I've never heard this place like that in all my years in the NFL. Been out here a number of years, I've never heard that. That's a testament to the Bills, testament to the Bills fans and the organization, really, for the tradition they've built over the years.

You're 6-2. Five of your first eight were on the road. Do you feel like this team continues to take steps forward?

SEAN MCDERMOTT: Yeah. I mean, we knew this was going to be a tough, tough game. And it was. We knew we were going to have to play well in all three phases. And I think we did at least at this point enough to get the result that we were looking for. But there's definitely things, again, that we have to improve on -- pre-snap penalties and the penalties overall. And then just some decision-making, I felt like, that we've got some young guys back there on some special teams things. But plenty still to work on, even in the last drive, the second to last drive on the defense, too easy right there. But a great week of preparation is what led to this. Focus. The leadership in the locker room. Guys stepping in for other guys that were hurt. We're missing Vaughn, T.B., D.C., and some things on offense there with Curtis being out. Again, I applaud those guys that stepped up and did a great job for us today.

We've talked a lot about slow starts for a couple of games now. To come out there, that 90-yard drive for a touchdown, just kind of set the tone. How big was that drive? And then you had another 90-yard touchdown drive after that?

SEAN MCDERMOTT: When you've got an explosive offense, just specific to this game, you know you have to be efficient offensively and explosive at the same time. I felt like we were both. Albeit we were beating ourselves, feels like two steps forward, one step back. But we were getting some chunks all the while moving the chains, being efficient when we needed to be efficient. I thought our third downs were around five yards to go on average on third down versus theirs were 11 yards to go. So you like the odds, the probability of those situations coming up in our favor. Again, just good to get off to a good start holistically as a team and to cash in when we've got the chance to cash in, red zone included.

How high on the priority list was that? Obviously you're coming here, you want to get a win but starting fast as you're planning out the week, how high was that?

SEAN MCDERMOTT: It's always a priority, even though we haven't done a great job of that. So we went back -- I tell you guys, we go back and look at everything -- so we went back and looked at some things. I felt more than anything we got into a rhythm early. We had some momentum, got into a rhythm. Defense came out, three-and-out, that helps. The field position that they got off of that first punt, he hung it up there pretty far. I think both three-and-outs by the defense, I expected better field position, quite honestly, and we didn't get it. But credit to our offense for getting us out of those situations.

Are you seeing rapid maturation from Keon? It looked like he was as comfortable as he's looked all season in the run game and in the passing game on that touchdown today.

SEAN MCDERMOTT: Just growth, one week at a time, growth, development. Adam's doing a really good job with him. Having Amari, I think, helps too because he's another veteran in the room and, to me, a big-time established veteran that's done great things in this league for a while. So that helps with the guys that are already in that room. We've got good guys in that room that help young players develop and teach them the right way, teaching them the right habits, the right routines, Monday through Saturday. That's what leads to what you saw today.

Do you think is Khalil Shakir at this point where he might even be a better version of Cole Beasley? I say that because he has the ability to break tackles. Cole would catch a ball and go down. Shakir seems to make YAC all the time. Is he a better version of Cole?

SEAN MCDERMOTT: I don't disrespect Cole like that, number one. That's what you're asking me to do. Cole was a phenomenal player in his own right. He did a lot of great things for this team. Khalil is his own player. And they're both similar, but both slightly different as well. What you saw the last couple of weeks with Khalil was he was out there playing injured and finally, this week, I think he started to get back to closer to 100 percent.

Cook over hundred yards. When you see him run that way early in a game, what kind of juice does that give the sideline?

SEAN MCDERMOTT: Yeah, I mean, it's just the momentum. All these things lead to momentum. You see guys straining. You see guys giving great effort. You see guys, offensive linemen finishing plays where James has the ball and they're finishing right on his heels when he's getting tackled, they're running to the football, defensive front runs to football. You see Rasul Douglas, I believe it was the first series or second series, they tried to run the ball off tackle outside. They cracked a safety. He comes up, makes a great tackle, and a heck of a running back. So those things are important to us as a team and it's never one player/one coach, it's playing good team football.

On James specifically, though, he's already passed his career touchdown totals from previous seasons, that kind of thing. What do you think specifically he's doing this year that's helping him have days like today?

SEAN MCDERMOTT: Again, just more and more development from a young player. He's focused. He prepares. And you don't take that for granted. These guys in that locker room, they work during the week to get themselves to be the most prepared they can and they take it seriously. They hold each other accountable, which is very powerful, as you guys know.

You mentioned it, penning in Kenneth Walker. How much of an emphasis was that this week?

SEAN MCDERMOTT: Really good running back. He likes to get outside and you could tell when they didn't have him in the stretch of two or three games it was, I believe, that they didn't have him, you could see a difference in their offense. So we knew that they were going to challenge the line of scrimmage, and they did and they did it early, and we were able to snuff it out a little bit there, which helps to make them more of a one-dimensional. Plus we're scoring points and you get into more of a drop-back game like we did.

Austin Johnson, first interception of his career. Didn't have one in college, doesn't look like.

SEAN MCDERMOTT: I think he had a fumble return. I remember watching him at Penn State, I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought he had some scoop-and-score. I remember it was going left to right on the video, for whatever that's worth. It was not an interception. This is his first interception. That must have been a scoop-and-score.

How do you remember that?

SEAN MCDERMOTT: I don't know. (Laughter).

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

JOSH ALLEN: Got off to a quick start. First drive, go down there and get points, something we've talked about repetitively over the course of the last couple of weeks. Felt good to go out there and get it done. First play, Dawson (Knox), making a big play for us and really starting us off the right way.

Would you think that might have been, start to finish -- the penalties were not great -- but start to finish, it might have been your best game of the year, I mean overall.

JOSH ALLEN: It's up there. I think you look at it from all three phases, I think everybody went out there, knew their job and executed at a high level -- offense, defense and special teams. Got to clean up the penalties. I obviously had a turnover today and had another one that could have been a turnover. Ty Johnson stepping in and falling on the ball and making a play and keeping it alive on that two-minute drive. Still lots to clean up. We'll watch this one, get rid of it and enjoy the plane ride.

Does it feel like Keon Coleman is playing more comfortable more confident football right now?

JOSH ALLEN: Absolutely. That's something, our staff has got him rolling. Knows what he's doing. When he knows what he's doing, when he's rolling, he's a damn good football player. He's continuing to make plays for us. And you love to see that from the young guy. And he's only going to get better.

Is there a noticeable difference when you have a game where you don't start well or a game you do start well? Is it simply just executing or is there anything else you notice?

JOSH ALLEN: No, it's a lot of execution. It's quick, little decisions here that mount up and kind of snowball into bigger things. Again, we could have let the turnovers deter us from having a good game, but we continued to find ways to move the ball. I think we're really good on third down. I don't know the exact numbers, but I think we executed at a high rate on third down, which allows us to, again, move the chains and give us our opportunities to score points. I don't know our red-zone touchdowns either, but we scored quite a bit. James Cook got going. Ray Davis got going and guys made plays for us.

After the turnover the defense got the stop at the goal line, then you went 93 yards. Was that the tipping point of the game, maybe?

JOSH ALLEN: Huge. Hate throwing turnovers. But made the tackle. And coach talks about it all the time of something like that, not to put your head down, go to the sideline and go make a tackle and let your defense come back on field because you never know what's going to happen. They went out there and had four consecutive plays of a stop and allowed us to, again, snowball that into something really good and score for the two-minute.

That was the mentality, right, to make up for it by taking control of the game?

JOSH ALLEN: Yes.

Could you describe what happened on that play, why he was able to pick it off?

JOSH ALLEN: He played inside. I think Amari Cooper slipped a little bit. Again, could have put that maybe a little bit further behind; I put it on his body. It was a little wet. And the guy made a good play.

Shakir over 100 yards today. Every week do you see his game elevate?

JOSH ALLEN: Yeah, he's as steady as they come. He's been dealing with an ankle for the last couple of weeks. Every week he seems to be getting a little bit better comfortable and confident and cutting. He just continues to make plays for us. And he's not the flashiest player -- you'll never see him be in the end zone and do something crazy, but he's as consistent as they come. Love the guy, and he does whatever is asked of him.

James Cook, two touchdowns, over 100 himself. Can you tell early in a game when he's got it going?

JOSH ALLEN: Yeah, when he's running hard like that, and that second touchdown, he lowered the boom -- I wouldn't say he has the biggest frame -- but he can be an angry runner. And you saw that today.

Couple of 90-yard touchdown drives in the first half. What does do that for an offense, in particular, on the road?

JOSH ALLEN: Yeah, I think it takes the crowd out of it. You stay out of third-and-longs like we did and be able to convert as well as we did. It quiets them down quite a bit which helps with communication. Helps really with just the whole vibe and momentum of the game. Crowds can be such a big part of it. I do want to shout out Bills Mafia. That was a crazy scene walking off the field to the thousands of fans still here. Appreciate them coming out. Hopefully they enjoyed the game today.

From a game-to-game standpoint, despite the penalties and sloppiness, situational stuff even going back a couple of weeks, how in control do you feel on a week-to-week basis?

JOSH ALLEN: I mean, I think I feel good. That's a credit to Joe and his system and the staff and RC and what we're doing in the quarterback room, Mitch and Mike and Shane. We have a lot of really thorough and good conversations in there that really help me throughout the week. I appreciate every single one of those guys, and it takes a village to go out and execute like the way we did today. But it takes everybody. That was a good feeling.

How about from a standpoint in terms of keeping, whether it be the long drives, coming back from a turnover, just the idea "we've got this"?

JOSH ALLEN: Yeah, I just think the confidence again that's instilled from the top-down, especially in the offensive side of the ball with Joe and our offensive staff putting guys in positions where they know what they're doing, they do it fast. I wouldn't say we're too overcomplicated in what we're doing. I know we have some motions and shifts, but again it takes guys learning it and understanding it but going out and executing at a high level. Everybody knows their spots. When you've got that, you've got a dangerous team.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

(On the Bills third-down efficiency which led to long touchdown drives) "Our plan is to always stay on schedule. Early on, we had a couple flags, but we know what we're capable of doing. Just sticking to the details and the preparation that we put in throughout the week. One play at a time mentality."

(On what he saw on Keon Coleman's touchdown) "That's a big boy play right there. It comes from him and Josh [Allen] being on the same page. Josh trusting him, throwing it up there and him making a play."

(On how a touchdown like Keon Coleman's energizes the offense) "Anytime we score a touchdown, we're lit. For it to be him, especially in our wide [receiver] room, for it to be anybody in our wide [receiver] room, I know we get really excited for each other. Just to see each other ball out. But as an offense, as long as we get in there, it can be anybody."

(On starting faster on offense) "There's a lot of things [that go into it]. Limiting penalties, execution, details. Even just the small things throughout a play. It's all 11 guys on the field doing their job to make it work. Today definitely got off to a better start than we have. Let's just put one foot in front of the other and continue to, whatever [Offensive Coordinator] Joe [Brady] calls, execute that play to the best of our ability."

(On if part of the gameplan was to go after CB Josh Jobe) "I don't think we singled out one guy. We went after everybody. They line up across us, we're going to go out there and make the play. It's pretty simple."

(On his touchdown catch) "It's a simple football play. We miscued on the first one. I told [Josh Allen] to put it up even higher and give me another shot at it. He gave me another shot and I made the play."

(On if they feel like the team is getting on a roll) "Of course. It changes throughout the season, but we feel like every play we come out there and execute at a high level, we don't think anybody can stop us but ourselves. So, eliminating the penalties, turnovers, whatever else we did wrong, we're just going to continue to correct that and continue to try and get wins."

(On having a good running game and what it does for the offensive line) "It just elevates everyone else because once we get the run game really established and [James Cook] gets going, that gets Dalton [Kincaid] open, that gets the tight ends open, all the wide receivers get open. It just opens up our entire offense."

(On the performance of the offensive line) "It's obviously a lot of fun when you can run the ball for so many yards and you're able to control the front."

(On if they were able to dictate the game up front) "Yeah, it's always fun when you're able to [execute] almost 18 plays on the first drive. When you have a drive like that, it's a real momentum grabber for us. I think we were able to run with that and being able to establish the line of scrimmage is always fun for an offensive line."

(On the start of the game by getting a three and out of defense and scoring a touchdown on offense) "It meant a lot, but it should've been a lot shorter of a drive. We had a lot of penalties so we have to clean that up. But it was great to get in the endzone like we did."

(On starting fast today) "I think it gave us some confidence going into the next few drives after that. We were able to run the football, we were able to throw the football, protect. But, again, we just kill ourselves with penalties. That's one thing we got to really clean up moving forward if we want to be the team we want to be."

(On the big game by Keon Coleman, and seeing him develop) "It's awesome, and it's a tribute to him working. It's really difficult to be a rookie in this league and to have success the way that he's had the last couple weeks is really awesome to see."

(On the performance of James Cook...) "I think Jimmy's just himself. We had a good game plan coming in to it. We executed during the week. He got his right reads and his plays and it was good to see him out there. He had over 100, right? 111? Something like that? So Jimmy's doing his thing. It's always good to see; helps us on the O-line, helps us on play-action, run deep passes, stuff like that. It's just good to see him get going."

(On what worked...) "Mid-zone stuff worked really well, and once you get that going you can start rolling in play-action and stuff like that. We'll take the win and move on to next week."

(On his sense of pride to see so many people have good games...) "Obviously I'm very proud. Keon's had a good couple of weeks here. It's National Tight Ends Day; our tight end got into the end zone, so that's always good to see. We brought in Amari (Cooper) the last two weeks. We didn't expect him to just come in and blow up the whole offense for us and run away with it. We still have weapons here, and we used them today and it's good to see everybody eating, for sure."

CB Rasul Douglas

(On being able to play so well that the crowd was quite for most of the game) "It feels good. We started off fast and that's been an issue for us the last few games."

(On what the difference was to get the fast start) "That's just what we've been practicing this past week. That's what coach has been telling us to do and we made sure we got off to a fast practice and transferred it over to the game."

(On how it felt to take away the Seattle run game and how the defensive backs contributed to that) "It feels good. We got the defensive line doing their thing today. And during practice, they did their thing. As corners, you have to tackle. That's first day install. They tell you if you can't tackle, you can't play corner here. We knew that [Kenneth Walker III] was a guy that likes to hit the edge and run, so we knew it was going to be on us."

(On how in control they felt on defense today) "We were good, we were good. We don't like that they scored on that last one that they got in. We were kind of upset."

(On how satisfying it was to win in Seattle) "It's a good deal. Coming in all week, we knew it was going to be loud, and our main goal was to start fast and keep the crowd quiet. It's a testimony to our coaches, our staff for getting us ready because this is one of the stadiums that I hadn't played in, so I didn't know what to expect. I'm glad that we handled our business, so we didn't have to worry about the 12th man."

(On how it felt to get off to a fast start) "It's a good feeling to stay on beat and do the right thing early. I tip my hat to 17 (Josh Allen), because 17 did his thing."

(On what worked for James Cook) "Listening and following us. Cook is a great player, and all week we told him 'Look, it's going to hit here' and he went into the game and he followed along. He listened to me, and he listened to Dave (David Edwards), really listened to Dave, because some of those plays Dave was like 'Look, it's coming here' and he trusted it and he followed it and sprung it loose. It's a testament to James' game where he's learning to be mentally sound and listen to what's going on. It's a difference to go out and do it, but when everybody is strategically moving together, it's a good beat."

(On how they game-planned during the week) "Joe (Brady) just did a great job all week. Scheming up different looks that they gave us based on personnel we had in the game. I'm glad that we alerted on the first play. Keon (Coleman) did a great job of clearing it out, protection was great up front, Josh (Allen) put the ball on the money. So that was just a great job by Joe scheming up what he saw on film. Defensive looks they give, that's all really just Joe's greatness shining through right there."

(On Keon Coleman driving his man to the bench) "It's one of those plays where you're like 'Ok, don't get a penalty,' but love the physicality. We want to find the middle ground where we don't get a flag, but keep that killer mentality. It's great to see that, but definitely don't want to get a penalty."

(On what it's like to quiet the crowd in Seattle) "Yeah, they have great fans. It was awesome to see how many of our fans traveled, that was really cool. Especially in environments like this, you want to start fast as an offense, try to get that energy to calm down in the stadium. Our defense did a great job of giving that momentum to us, and we (offense) went down and scored quick. I think on a 90-yard drive or something like that. So any time you're in an environment like that, you want to get some momentum quickly."

(On his vantage point for Austin Johnson's interception) "I was not on the field, but all I saw was a ball getting batted, and I'm like 'oh nice, a batted ball' then I just see Austin flying in from the side and making that catch. I had to run in there and say what's up to him, good job and all that. He really killed it on that one."

(On Keon Coleman blocking his man into the bench) "Man, I think that was a big point for us. The physicality aspect of it. It's something we have really been wanting to address and push, and getting everybody to buy into the physicality aspect. So, me seeing Keon do that, he's got some dog in him for sure."

(On if having a faster start on defense was an emphasis today) "Absolutely. It's a point of emphasis every week. Nobody wants to start slow, but we definitely executed the game plan, paid attention to the details and it went in our favor."

(On what the messaging in the room was about him stepping up and making plays) "Unfortunately in this league some people get hurt, and it happens. Everybody has to be ready to play. It doesn't matter who it is, you just have to step up and make plays. DeWayne (Carter) has been having a really good rookie season, and everybody needed to step up. Me, Eli (Ankou), DaQuan (Jones), we just needed to do our thing and that's what happened."

(On when he felt himself get into a rhythm) "First play. Just the film, watching it all week and seeing how they play and what they give up, that's what we do it for."

(On what the difference was today that allowed the Bills to hit the ground running) "Just played football. Just played our style of football and got that victory."

(On if the offensive line gets credit for blocking) "They always get credit for anything that we do. The touchdowns, the first downs, they always get the credit. Hats off to the offensive line, they played good. I'm happy for them."

DE Greg Rousseau

(On how he felt about deflecting two passes) "It's definitely something that our coaches were telling us about, to be able to get our hands up on early downs and deflect the pass even if you're not getting there for the sack or hit. If you get it in your hands, it can cause an interception. Kind of how it did later in the game, and it can kill the downs. It's a pretty big play."

(On seeing Austin Johnson's interception) "Just happy, super happy. We put in so much work every single week, so much time at the facility. To see him make that play out there, it was amazing. That's kind of what we live for."

(On the impact of making a team one dimensional) "It's huge. When we know it's an obvious passing down, even if it's first down but you have about 17, maybe 21 points, it makes it really easy to lean into that and rush."

Must-see shots of the Seahawks at their Week 8 matchup against the Buffalo Bills at Lumen Field on Sunday, October 27, 2024.

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