5 Storylines to Watch in Seattle Seahawks Week 2 Game vs. New England Patriots

After kicking off their season with a home victory over the Denver Broncos, the Seattle Seahawks are making the long trip to Foxborough, Massachusetts to take on the New England Patriots in Week 2.

Both teams are 1-0, and each won their inaugural games because of lockdown defense. If the defenses dominate this matchup as well, it will be about which offense can score just enough points to pick up a victory.

Kickoff is at 10 a.m. PT on Sunday. Here are five storylines to watch in the Seahawks’ game against the Patriots.

Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson will be the first true test for the Seahawks’ run defense in 2024. Seattle allowed the second-most rushing yards in the NFL last season (2,352) but surrendered just 64 rushing yards on 20 carries to Broncos running backs in Week 1.

That’s a credit to head coach Mike Macdonald’s scheme and the players’ preparation. It’s also how Seattle held Denver to just 13 points for almost 58 minutes of the game despite the Seahawks handing the Broncos the ball in the red zone twice before their lone touchdown drive.

Stevenson picked up 118 yards after contact (120 total rushing yards) in the Patriots’ Week 1 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. He fell off the radar a bit as one of the league’s top rushers after missing five games last season and only rushing for 619 yards and four touchdowns. Now, the 6-0, 227-pound is fully back.

The Seahawks must balance shutting down Stevenson and defending a middling pass attack led by quarterback Jacoby Brissett. Seattle did well versus the Broncos, but Stevenson will be a tougher assignment.

Running back Kenneth Walker III, Seattle’s top rusher each of the last two seasons, was listed as doubtful to play Sunday on the team’s Friday injury report. Walker is dealing with an oblique injury that he originally hinted was not an issue postgame following the Broncos game. Now, it’s unlikely he will play against the Patriots.

Enter Zach Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh. This is why Seattle has invested so much in its stable of running backs — to make injuries a non-issue. Charbonnet could be a lead back on any other team (second-round pick out of UCLA in 2023), but instead, he shares carries with Walker. He had 462 yards rushing on 108 carries last season and finished with eight carries for 12 yards in the Seahawks’ season opener versus the Broncos. McIntosh was Seattle’s leading rusher in the preseason and could see some work in this game as well.

Walker is a special talent, particularly as an explosive play threat. That is neutralized with him off the field. However, Charbonnet provides a different pacing and punishing rushing style that has still allowed him to be effective in the NFL.

Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb should have a contingency attack plan for this exact situation when Charbonnet becomes the lead back. His numbers weren’t great in Week 1, but Charbonnet has a chance to see a healthy amount of work versus New England. Undrafted rookie George Holani will also be available after being elevated from the practice squad on Saturday.

In some ways, this game is about the coaches. Either Patriots coach Jerod Mayo or Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald will earn a 2-0 record as an NFL head coach — unless, of course, the game ends with the horrendously anticlimactic third result of a tie.

Mayo, 38, is the third-youngest head coach in the league while Macdonald, 37, is the youngest. Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay is sandwiched between them.

Both stepped in this season for longtime head coaches at their respective franchises. Bill Belichick was the Patriots’ head coach for 24 seasons and Pete Carroll led the Seahawks for 14. Needless to say, they have big shoes to fill. Beginning their tenures with a pair of wins would go a long way for both coaches.

Not gift-wrapping their opponent four points via safeties in the first half would be a good start for the Seahawks offense. However, they’ll have to do even better than that against a New England defense that was third-best in the NFL in yards allowed last week (224 yards).

Outside of the safeties and poor starting field position, the Seahawks’ first offensive drive of the season was just two plays: A sack of Geno Smith, then another near-sack that resulted in an interception. Grubb and company would probably much prefer a touchdown drive to start the game in Week 2.

The early offensive production will be especially important when considering this could be a low-scoring, defensively dominated game. New England’s passing offense produced just 120 yards of offense in Week 1. Seattle’s defense can handle that assignment, but an early offensive touchdown would help the Seahawks take control early.

The Seahawks defense didn’t leave much to be desired in their Week 1 win over the Broncos. They held Denver to 231 yards of offense, allowed a touchdown on just 1-of-4 red zone trips and emerged with three takeaways (T-2nd in the NFL).

They also played a rookie quarterback who appeared to only have a portion of the playbook available to him. Bo Nix hardly threw the ball downfield — part of the gameplan created by Denver head coach Sean Payton to avoid negative plays by his signal-caller. So, can Seattle recreate their defensive performance against the Patriots?

Brissett was limited in Week 1 similar to Nix. He was 2-of-5 passing for 32 yards when targeting a receiver more than 10 yards downfield against the Bengals, per NFL Next Gen Stats. Nix was 2-of-12 passing for 42 yards and two interceptions when targeting that same area against Seattle.

That plays to Seattle’s strength. Safeties Julian Love and Rayshawn Jenkins were excellent in back-end coverage, and cornerbacks Riq Woolen, Devon Witherspoon and Tre Brown left little room for Denver’s receivers to work.

New England’s offensive line allowed 13 pressures in Week 1 and just one sack, per Pro Football Focus. Seattle generated 18 pressures against the Broncos and logged two sacks. That will be another matchup to watch in the trenches that will heavily affect this game. Whether linebackers Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson can go for Seattle will hugely impact the contest as well. Both were listed as questionable on Friday.