Burkhardt: Why Bills matchup is ‘ultimate test’ for Seahawks

Oct 26, 2024, 12:19 AM

Seattle Sports

Near the midway point of the season, the Seattle Seahawks are still a bit of a mystery.

Macdonald previews Seahawks’ showdown vs Bills

Seattle opened the Mike Macdonald era with a 3-0 start, but that came against an underwhelming slate of opposing quarterbacks – Denver rookie Bo Nix, New England journeyman Jacoby Brissett and Miami backups Skylar Thompson and Tim Boyle.

The Seahawks then quickly fell to 3-3, stumbling to three straight losses in an 11-day span. Their defeats to NFC powers Detroit and San Francisco were certainly understandable – especially given the slew of injuries they were facing – but their Week 5 loss to the woeful Giants was perplexing.

Yet just as the concerns were mounting, Seattle bounced back with a decisive 34-14 road victory over the surging Atlanta Falcons this past Sunday. Atlanta had entered on a three-game win streak, but the Seahawks controlled the game throughout, despite playing with three backups in the secondary and a fourth-stringer at right tackle.

“I thought last week was a really good win,” FOX lead NFL play-by-play voice Kevin Burkhardt said Friday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. “I think Atlanta is pretty good. (The Seahawks) had three straight turnovers on the defense and I thought they flew around to the ball. And (they) were playing with backup cornerbacks and backup safeties in the game.

“I thought that was really, really impressive from that side of the ball, and I thought it was a really good win on the road.”

Now the question is, can the Seahawks build on last week’s triumph and pick up their first big-time victory of Macdonald’s tenure?

Seattle (4-3) hosts Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon at Lumen Field, which presents a measuring-stick opportunity against one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks and one of the AFC’s top teams. The Allen-led Bills (5-2) are strong on both sides of the ball, featuring the league’s fifth-ranked scoring offense and seventh-ranked scoring defense.

“I think we can find out who (the Seahawks) are, because… I think Buffalo is a really good team,” said Burkhardt, who will be calling Sunday’s game alongside seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady. “And I think they’re still kind of getting in the groove too. I expect them to go deep in the playoffs.

“So I’m just really curious to see how (the Seahawks) stack up. … I think it’s an ultimate test for them to see where they are.”

Listen to the full conversation with FOX’s Kevin Burkhardt at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.