Derick Hall and Jarran Reed brawl. Geno Smith, Connor Williams waving. Seahawks on the run

Connor Williams knew the question was coming.

So did Derick Hall.

Geno Smith used the same word as his coach, Mike Macdonald.

“Frustrating.”

That only begins to describe what the Seahawks did to themselves, let alone the Bills Seattle’s 31-10 home loss to Buffalo to the cheers of Lumen Field Sunday.

Hall and teammate Jarran Reed threw wild arm bars at each other and grabbed each other’s shoulder pads and face masks. That was after Hall was penalized for unnecessarily pushing Bills quarterback Josh Allen down after throwing an incomplete pass on third down in the second quarter.

The gift extended Buffalo’s drive to a touchdown, instead of the field goal they would have attempted without Hall’s indiscipline. Buffalo led 14-3 at halftime instead of 10-3.

Reed charged into Hall in the middle of the field, moments after referee Ron Torbert threw his penalty flag. Reed continued to yell at Hall, all the way to the Seahawks sideline. There they shook hands.

After the game, after showering and cooling off, the sophomore Hall said Reed, the ninth-year veteran from Seattle, yelled at him to “just be smart.”

“He loves the game. I love the game,” Hall said from his locker in a very quiet Seahawks room. “And that’s when things got heated. But he is a leader. He’s the leader of our group, and when something goes wrong, you have to lean on the guys.

“And maybe we both could have done something better, but he wants me to go out there and play smart, fast and physical. And that was actually his message at that moment.”

McDonald was not happy. Especially since Hall, the team’s leader in sacks, dumped Allen for no reason after he threw the ball.

“There is some frustration,” the coach said.

“Look, our guys are connected, and they have each other’s backs. They are emotional. There will be flare-ups and stuff. It seems like things have settled down.

“It wasn’t a smart penalty. That’s just not how we train our guys to attack quarterbacks, so it wasn’t a smart move (from Hall).

Connor Williams’ problems

Williams signed in mid-August, nine months removed from reconstructive knee surgery that ended his two seasons as the starting center for Miami.

He represents Seattle’s latest attempt to restore a position that has been a black hole for the past decade.

The seventh-year veterans center was critical of itself a week and a half ago. He told The News Tribune his play in his first seven games for the Seahawks was well below his level.

On Sunday, Williams was much more important in a loss than a center should be.

The Seahawks had a second-and-goal on the 3-yard line early in the second quarter. They trailed 7-0. Before the day’s steady rain began to fall, Williams sent a signal to Smith, back in shotgun formation, about five feet above the quarterback’s head. Running back Kenneth Walker ran back 25 yards to recover the fumble. It was third and goal on the 22.

Drive and opportunity to commit, ruined. Seattle settled for a field goal.

Williams was a guard during his first four NFL seasons for Dallas. He was working at the University of Texas.

He acknowledged after the game that he was high on shotgun snaps for much of the first half of this Seahawks season.

“Definitely something I need to fix,” the 6-foot-2 Williams told The News Tribune in his locker. “I have to lower my hips and lower the snaps. Certainly.

“I would say it’s all the way through (games). It just came up that one time. It’s grown, so definitely something I need to focus on.

On Buffalo’s ensuing possession, Josh Allen threw an interception for the first time in 301 passes from last season. Josh Jobe, coming off the practice squad in his second start for Seattle, jumped inside a quick slant route from Amari Cooper for his first career interception.

That set up the Seahawks’ offense with a first-and-goal at the 7. On third down from the 1, Walker was stopped as he tried to run between Williams and right guard Anthony Bradford for no gain.

On fourth and goal from the 1, Smith found himself in the middle under Williams for the second time in a row. As the quarterback took Williams’ hit, he began to fall back. Williams was driven back to Smith. The center stepped back on Smith’s foot. That tripped the QB and caused him to stumble and fall at the worst time.

“I mean fourth and 1, you can’t allow penetration,” Williams said. “You have to set the tone as a line, and so that’s up to us.”

It was a loss of six yards. Instead of a 10-7 lead, the Seahawks were still behind.

They never got closer to the Bills.

Smith was asked what happened on fourth-and-goal on the 1. He was in no mood to explain anything.

“I thought that was pretty obvious. You could see it, Smith said.

How far are the Seahawks from the elite?

So it went for the Seahawks.

Eleven penalties. Three personal fouls, including one on Smith because the quarterback didn’t like a hit he took along the sideline during a scramble and threw the ball in the face of a Bills defender.

Bills 31 and Seahawks 10 just show how lopsided it was.

“The bottom line is we’re outplayed and outcoached,” Macdonald said, “and we’ve got to make amends. It feels like we’ve had this conversation with you too many times.

Especially after games against the better teams in the competition. The Seahawks had the same tone two games ago after San Francisco beat them for the sixth straight time.

TNT asked Williams how far away he thinks the Seahawks (4-4) are from the league’s best teams, who head into their test against their NFC West rival Los Angeles Rams (3-4) next Sunday at Lumen Field.

“I feel like we touched it today. I feel like this is an opportunity to see if you persevere or not,” Williams said. “Those unforced errors multiplied.

“It started with that click. That turned the game around, I think. I think we were ready to finish.

“I think we are on the brink. And I think it’s there.”