1999

Bills 24
Seattle 10

Attendance: 66,285

SEATTLE (AP) -- Mike Holmgren says he learns something from every game, even exhibition games.  

He learned Saturday night that it will take a lot of work to the Seattle Seahawks, who haven't had a winning season since 1988, back to the playoffs.

Manny Martin returned an interception 96 yards for a touchdown as Buffalo spoiled Holmgren's debut as Seattle's coach, beating the Seahawks 24-10.

"Maybe I was expecting too much," said Holmgren, who led the Green Bay Packers to two Super Bowls. "We have a lot of work ahead of us -- a lot of work."

It was not a stellar exhibition opener for either team's offensive starters.

Bills quarterback Doug Flutie, voted the league's Comeback Player of the Year last season after a successful eight-year career in Canada, guided Buffalo on a 78-yard drive to the Seattle 1-yard line in the second quarter.

But four straight attempts to cross the goal line were thwarted by the Seahawks defense. Buffalo used the new instant-replay rule to argue that Jonathan Linton scored on a 1-yard plunge on third down, but the referee ruled against the Bills.

Linton fumbled on the next play, his third miscue of the half. Buffalo, which was missing four starters on offense, finished the game with five fumbles and one interception.

"It was a good start for us," said Buffalo coach Wade Phillips, who noted that he would have elected to kick a field goal on fourth-and-one at the goal line if the game counted in the standings.

"We moved the ball on them. If we hadn't fumbled the ball we would have done a lot more."

Flutie was 5-of-7 for 63 yards in less than two quarters.

"Overall, I thought we were pretty efficient. We just turned the ball over way too much," Flutie said.

For Seattle, Jon Kitna struggled to move the Seahawks under Holmgren's West Coast-style offense and failed to convert on Buffalo turnovers.

Kitna, a former NAIA quarterback at Central Washington who started the final five games for Dennis Erickson last season, was 6-of-8 for 63 yards, and also rushed for 11 yards in 1+ quarters.

"We are still in a learning process. Last year at this time, everybody had known the system for a couple of years," Kitna said. "We had high expectations. We were hoping to play better than that."

After the teams traded field goals in the first half, Buffalo took control of the game in the third quarter.

Anthony Gray scored on a 24-yard run two plays after Seattle's backup quarterback, Glenn Foley, fumbled at the Seahawks 31.

Seattle tied the score on a 27-yard pass from Foley to Charles Jordan midway through the third quarter, Seattle's only touchdown.

But Martin, a second-string safety, gave Buffalo the lead for good when he intercepted Foley's pass on the Seattle 4 and returned it for a touchdown.

Buffalo's third-string quarterback, Alex Van Pelt,  hit Jeremy McDaniel for an 11-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

Peerless Price, Buffalo's second-round pick from Tennessee, had a good showing in his NFL debut, catching five passes for 64 yards.

"I liked that he tried to get extra yards after the catch. A lot of young receivers just fall down," No. 2 quarterback Rob Johnson said.

Johnson, who lost the starting job to Flutie last year and played part of the second and third quarters, had a 40-yard run late in the second quarter that led to Steve Christie's 34-yard field goal with 12:33 to go in the first half.

Johnson was 2-of-4 for 17 yards.

In the first quarter, Seattle kicker Todd Peterson missed a 46-yard field goal and then connected on a 41-yard attempt.

Seahawks first-rounder Lamar King, a defensive end who ended his holdout Friday, did not play. Top receiver Joey Galloway is still boycotting training camp while he negotiates a contract extension.

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