Buffalo Routes Seahawks 38-9

By Tim KorteAP Sports Writer (AP) – What’s wrong with the Seattle Seahawks? Ummmm. Got a minute? Just dropped passes, missed tackles and costly special-teams mistakes. There hasn’t been any offensive tempo for two weeks. Oh, and they were beaten decisively at home by a team that had lost six straight road games. Willis McGahee had 116 yards rushing and four touchdowns, leading Buffalo to a 38-9 victory over Seattle on Sunday, the worst loss for coach Mike Holmgren in his six seasons with the Seahawks. “I’m a little embarrassed by how we played,” Holmgren said. “I expect more from the team in all areas. We flat-out weren’t very good.” Credit Buffalo (5-6) for winning its first road game in five tries this season. McGahee was outstanding and Drew Bledsoe offset his three interceptions by completing two-thirds of his passes for 275 yards and a touchdown. “The defense set the tone,” McGahee said. “We just fed off of that. The offensive line did a great job. I was just a robot running behind them.” “It’s been too long since we’ve had the feeling of going on the road and beating somebody,” Bledsoe said. “We finished the game. That’s the big thing you can take out of this one. We didn’t allow them to climb back in it.” With Bledsoe directing a no-huddle offense, McGahee followed a line that cleared his way. He scored on a pair of 2-yard runs, took a lateral from Bledsoe for a 30-yard TD and added a 1-yard scoring run midway through the fourth quarter. The Seahawks (6-5) hit their lowest point this season with an abysmal performance that nearly emptied the stadium of 66,271 fans at the 5-minute mark. They lost for the second time in five home games after going 8-0 in Seattle last season. It also eclipsed the most lopsided loss of Holmgren’s tenure, a 31-3 defeat at Oakland on Oct. 22, 2000. Remarkably, the Seahawks will remain atop the up-for-grabs NFC West for at least another week. Seattle holds a one game lead over St. Louis (5-5). Every team plays a bad game at some point, so Seattle can think “mulligan” for next week’s game against Dallas (4-7). Holmgren reiterated his belief that a playoff run is possible, “but not the way we played today.” Back at training camp, the Seahawks were a fashionable pick by some NFL analysts to reach the Super Bowl. A better goal would be winning the team’s first playoff game in 20 years. The consensus in Seattle’s locker room Sunday was that any strong finish will require every player to rededicate himself. “We have to decide who we’re going to be,” Holmgren said. “You see those teams clumped together. In the last five games, some will take off, some will wallow around and finish where they are and some will drop off the cliff.” Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck returned from a bruised thigh that sidelined him last week. He was 19-of-38 for 185 yards passing with a TD and an interception, but refused to blame the bruise for his performance. “I wish I had felt better but I didn’t,” said Hasselbeck, who also had a fourth-quarter fumble that led to McGahee’s final TD. “There’s a lot of guys in the NFL who feel that way. I’m not going to use it as an excuse.”