4 Seahawks the Bills should worry about ahead of Week 8 clash

The Buffalo Bills are set to make the first of two trips to the West Coast this season, as they are scheduled to take on the 4-3 Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field this Sunday. This is a confrontation that doesn’t happen very often; The last time these teams met was in 2020, without fans in attendance. Buffalo won that game 44-34. The last time fans were in the stands to watch this matchup was in 2016, when Buffalo fell to Seattle 25-31.

A lot has changed for both teams since then, and it’s understandable if you’re not up to date with the Seahawks’ current status. For starters, this is an important game for both teams: for Buffalo, a win gives them an extra cushion in the AFC East and would take away the idea that the Bills can’t beat a team above .500. For Seattle, a win on Sunday would also extend its division lead and end a two-game losing streak at home. Both teams will rely on key players to get the job done this weekend. With that, here are four players the Bills should worry about on Sunday:

This shouldn’t be a surprise. In what is one of the league’s most surprising stories in recent years, Geno Smith found a home in Seattle. The former New York Jets second-round pick currently leads the league in passing yards with 1,985 and has thrown eight touchdowns on the year. Buffalo ranks in the bottom half of the league in passing yards allowed, so expect to see plenty of plays through the air for Seattle.

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In a rare case of a player playing against the same team two weeks in a row for two different clubs, Seattle linebacker Ernest Jones IV now has a second chance in the Bills’ offense. The 2021 third-round pick was Traded to the Seahawks earlier this week and hopes to make an immediate impact against some familiar faces, beyond simply providing information about the Bills in the movie room. Last week against Buffalo, Jones tallied five tackles and a quarterback hit, and two pressures.

There should be an asterisk with this one: the Bills should be concerned about the status of WR DK Metcalf heading into this week. In their 34-14 win over the Atlanta Falcons last week, Metcalf was carted off the field and later diagnosed with a sprained MCL. He has not been ruled out for Sunday’s matchup against the Bills, but has yet to take a practice this week. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound wide receiver has torn apart opposing secondaries this season: He is third in the league in receiving yards with 568 and has racked up three touchdowns in his first seven games this season.

Related: Starting LB and key rookie DT ruled out for Bills’ Week 8 matchup against Seahawks

Byron Murphy II, who missed the three games leading up to Seattle’s win over Atlanta last week, made his presence felt by returning to the game. The 16th overall pick racked up four tackles in his first game in nearly a month, and one of them was a tackle for loss. One important stat to know about the rookie: the Seahawks are 4-0 when Murphy plays and 0-3 when he doesn’t. Needless to say, the Seahawks are thrilled to have him back on the field, and completely healthy at that.

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