Column: Bills' line 'stirs the drink' as defense batters Russell Wilson

Five sacks. Eleven quarterback hits. Four forced turnovers.

“It’s something we’ll have to think about, because it worked great,” Bills defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson said about replicating their aggressive performance in the weeks to come. “Why give a quarterback a chance to even think or even set his feet? Just come after him.”

The Bills’ relentless front seven, led by veteran defensive end Jerry Hughes, enjoyed a breakthrough performance against the top-scoring offense in the NFL and fueled a 44-34 victory against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Bills Stadium.

Buffalo dominated a marquee opponent by not only building a big lead, but holding it and finishing the job, as the Bills improved to 7-2 for the first time since 1993, tightened their grip on the AFC East and turned next week’s trip to face Murray and the Arizona Cardinals into an opportunity to head into the bye on a four-game winning streak with back-to-back triumphs against NFC contenders. 

Bills coach Sean McDermott praised the aggressive game plan developed by defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and said the defense could build off the performance.

“It’s probably a mindset,” McDermott said. “I think when you have clarity during the early part of the week in terms of how we want to attack the game plan and then they can go out there and execute, the practice time we put in allows the guys to understand the ins and outs of the defense and the game plan and then they can go out there and play free.”

Wilson, the front-runner for NFL MVP, completed 28 of 41 pass attempts for 390 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score.

While that is the most passing yardage the Bills have allowed, Wilson also critically threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles.

The Bills scored off each turnover, resulting in 16 points and an even greater swing, considering Jordan Poyer’s interception in the end zone kept points off the board in the first quarter.

“It was fourth-and-1 and we tried to make a play and go for it,” Wilson said. “I’m not going to just throw the ball out of the end zone. We almost had a touchdown there. They made a good play.”

It was Hughes’ pressure on Wilson that resulted in Poyer’s pick, his first of the season, after the Bills raced to a 14-0 lead.

And Hughes’ strip sack to begin the third quarter kept the momentum in the second half.

Hughes has a sack in three consecutive games for the third time in his career.

“Our D-line stirs the drink for our defense,” Poyer said. “We talk about all week that they’ve got to play on the other side of the line of scrimmage, and that’s what they did today.”

The Bills had blown a 28-10 second-half lead against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3 before rallying for the comeback victory. But there was no such drama this time around, even though the Seahawks clawed to within a touchdown.

Tre’Davious White, who hopped on Hughes’ forced fumble at the Seattle 23-yard line in the third quarter, also snared his first interception of the season with the Bills ahead 34-20 in the fourth, capping the defense’s most aggressive and productive series of the season.

On first down, Wilson was sacked by Mario Addison.

On second down, he was sacked by A.J. Klein.

On third down, he was intercepted by White, who returned the ball to the 3-yard line.

"More upset about the one late when we were down,” Wilson said. “(White) made a good play. We’ve just got to be cleaner. We had a great chance to win the game, despite it all.”

Bills linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said there was “a lot of energy on the sideline.”

“We preach each and every week about winning the turnover battle,” Edmunds said. “All those plays are big for us. It’s a momentum swing and we were just able to give our offense a short field and let them go to work. All that stuff was amazing to see because we preach it all throughout the week.

“Just to see it come alive on game day when we needed it, it was a good thing to see.”

Moments after White’s interception, Josh Allen waltzed into the end zone for a 41-20 advantage with 9½ minutes to play.

Allen also completed 31 of 38 passes for a career-high-tying 415 yards and three touchdowns as the Bills scored their most points in a game since McDermott became head coach.

“Coach challenged us on defense to think offensively,” Hughes said, “so with those two big key interceptions, one to keep points off the board and another one with Tre White inches from the actual end zone, those are huge plays, because you’ve got Russell Wilson back there and you know he’s going to come swinging for four quarters.”

The Bills did the same.

The 44 points were the most a Pete Carroll-coached team had allowed since Nov. 14, 2009, when he was the head coach at USC and surrendered 55 points to Stanford, then coached by Jim Harbaugh, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Klein, starting in place of injured linebacker Matt Milano, had a team-high four quarterback hits and two sacks, including a strip sack and fumble recovery at the Seattle 19-yard line with 6 1/2 minutes remaining, snuffing out any threat of a Seattle comeback.

“We have to keep this momentum going,” Klein said. “We’ve been waiting on a game where we can come out and get this many turnovers in one game. It seems like we’ve been on the cusp. With Tre’Davious’ pick and Po’s pick, I think Jerry had a sack fumble, as well. These are types of plays and things that we need moving forward to continue to build to become a great defense.”