SEATTLE -- Coach Rex Ryan might have called it a must-win game for the Buffalo Bills, but despite his team's 31-25 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night, the Bills' season is not over -- although it's close.
The Bills (4-5) have a steep climb over their final seven games to avoid their 17th consecutive season out of the postseason. They've fallen to 12th place in the AFC playoff standings, and with a 1-4 conference record, they will have a tough time winning tiebreakers for a wild-card playoff berth.
Realistically, Buffalo must win six of its remaining seven games (and finish with a 10-6 record) to have a strong shot at earning a playoff spot. More than likely, a 9-7 record would send the Bills to their couches after their regular-season finale on Jan. 1.
Despite the Bills' grim chances, Monday night's loss should help Ryan's chances of remaining the Bills' coach in 2017. Playing in front of a stadium-record crowd at CenturyLink Field, his team showed fortitude in one of the NFL's toughest environments, taking the game down to a final drive in the fourth quarter, only to be foiled on a fourth-down incompletion by Bills QB Tyrod Taylor in the red zone.
Against the NFL's sixth-ranked defense in terms of yards and the best defense in terms of points allowed, the Bills' offense topped 400 total yards, converted 12 of 17 third downs and totaled 30 first downs. Wide receiver Robert Woods set a career high with 162 receiving yards, running back LeSean McCoy bounced back from a hamstring injury to gain 120 total yards, and Taylor added another rushing touchdown.
The offense wasn't the Bills' problem Monday night. Instead, it was Ryan's defense, particularly his secondary. Second-year cornerback Ronald Darby, who finished second in voting for the Associated Press' defensive rookie of the year award last season, was benched in the second quarter after allowing a 50-yard completion to Doug Baldwin and making other mistakes. The move did little to slow Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, whose connection with tight end Jimmy Graham proved too much for Buffalo's defense to handle.
The Bills rightfully should be livid about officials not calling Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman for unnecessary roughness in a bizarre sequence at the end of the first half that resulted in a missed 54-yard field goal attempt by Dan Carpenter, but that wouldn't have changed the defense's struggles.
Ryan, touted as one of the league's brightest defensive minds, must now use the bye week to figure out what's wrong with his defense. After allowing 214 rushing yards to Miami's Jay Ajayi in a Week 7 loss, and four touchdowns to New England's Tom Brady in a Week 8 loss, Ryan will need to find answers quickly as to why Wilson shredded Buffalo's secondary with such ease.