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Seahawks hold on to beat Bills in perhaps NFL's best game so far this season

Well, nobody should be complaining about the quality of that prime-time NFL game.

In perhaps the best game of the NFL season to date, the Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills battled until the last minute, and the Seahawks finally got the stop they needed. With 13 seconds left, Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw incomplete into the end zone on fourth-and-goal and the Seahawks held on for a 31-25 win.

The theme of this season has been the poor quality of play in prime-time games, and the effect that has had on television ratings, but Monday night’s game was fantastic.

The Seahawks looked as vulnerable as they have in a long time at home on defense, but a lot of that had to do with Taylor putting on a show.

Taylor consistently eluded pressure to make plays downfield. On the final drive, it seemed like he might break Seattle’s hearts with one last great escape. On third-and-long, Taylor escaped the pocket yet again, rolled to his right and hit Robert Woods on a spectacular catch. A 15-yard roughing the passer penalty was added on. That put the Bills in position to win the game on a touchdown.

Jimmy Graham made a one-handed catch for one of his two touchdowns (AP)
Jimmy Graham made a one-handed catch for one of his two touchdowns. (AP)

The Seahawks, however, rose up. K.J. Wright got a sack. Then Cliff Avril got a sack on third down. That put the Bills in a do-or-die situation, and Taylor couldn’t find anyone open in the end zone.

The game had a little bit of everything. Russell Wilson broke out of a season-long slump to throw for 282 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for another. Tight end Jimmy Graham made two of the best touchdown catches of the season, grabbing one with one hand as his other hand was held down, and the second one was another juggling, diving one-handed catch.

Taylor played very well too. He had 289 yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown, and kept the Bills in the game until the very end.

It also had a crazy controversy, on Richard Sherman’s hit (which the Bills apparently thought was dirty) on Bills kicker Dan Carpenter, which led to a crazy sequence of events to end the half.

No matter your rooting interest on Monday night, this much should be agreed upon: That was a heck of a prime-time NFL game. Finally.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!