SEATTLE -- Teammates Jarran Reed and Derick Hall briefly scuffled with each other during the Seattle Seahawks' 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Lumen Field, one of several lowlights of Seattle's ugly performance.
The altercation occurred in the final minute of the first half, after Hall drew a penalty for roughing the passer with a late hit on Josh Allen. Reed got in Hall's face on the field, chiding the second-year outside linebacker. The two exchanged words again when they came to the sideline for the next play, with Reed -- a defensive tackle in his ninth season -- grabbing Hall's facemask before teammates and coaches separated them.
"There's some frustration there," coach Mike Macdonald said. "Look, our guys, they're connected and they have each other's backs, but they are emotional and there's going to be flare-ups and stuff. ... It seems like it calmed down. But it wasn't a smart penalty. That's not how we train our guys to attack quarterbacks, so that wasn't a smart move."
Hall's penalty superseded an illegal shift on Buffalo, which would have made it third-and-12 from Seattle's 29-yard line. Instead, the Bills got a fresh set of downs from the 12 and found the end zone two plays later on an Allen pass to tight end Dalton Kincaid to take a 14-3 lead into halftime.
"I felt like it was legal," Hall said. "I felt like I led with my hands, but we'll watch the tape and see where it goes from there."
Hall said Reed's message was to be smarter.
"He loves the game, I love the game and, in that moment, things got heated," Hall said. "But he's a leader. He's the leader of our group, and when stuff hits the fan, you've got to lean on those guys. Maybe we both could have did some things a bit better, but he just wants me to go out, play smart, play fast, play physical, and that was basically his message in that moment."
The Fox broadcast showed the two having a much calmer conversation on the sideline, with Reed doing all the talking.
Reed told a reporter in the locker room he'd talk after getting dressed, then left as media members were interviewing Hall.
"We both love the game, we both love each other and when it's in the moment, you can't really say who's going to say or do what, but we told each other we love each other," Hall said. " ... He knows that I'm a guy that can help us and like I said, he's the leader of our unit so there's no bad blood. We play together, we love each other so we'll be back at it next Sunday."
Hall's roughing the passer was one of Seattle's 11 enforced penalties for 82 yards Sunday. The Seahawks' total of 74 penalties through seven games is tied for third most in the NFL. They committed two turnovers -- a Geno Smith interception on a tipped screen pass and a muffed punt by rookie returner Dee Williams.
The Seahawks came away with only three points on two drives that went deep into Buffalo territory. Center Connor Williams sailed a shotgun snap well over Smith's head from the 3-yard line, forcing Seattle to settle for a field goal. Its next drive ended with a turnover on downs after Smith and Williams got their feet tangled on a fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line.
Per ESPN Research, the 21-point margin of defeat marked the Seahawks' most lopsided home loss since they fell 42-7 to the Los Angeles Rams in 2017. It was Seattle's second-worst loss in the past seven seasons, behind only its 37-3 defeat in 2023 to the Baltimore Ravens.
The Seahawks fell to 4-4 and into a tie for first place in the NFC West with the Arizona Cardinals. Seattle hosts the 3-4 Los Angeles Rams next Sunday before a bye in Week 10.
"It gets out of hand when we're doing the things that we did today where we didn't help ourselves," Macdonald said. "... It's a laundry list of things. We could go line item by line item if you want, but the long and short of it is we got outplayed, we got outcoached and we've got to go make it right. I feel like it's too often that we've had this conversation with you guys of going back to work on Tuesday and hitting this thing head-on and seeing if we can get this thing turned around against a good Rams team coming in here."