What to watch as the Seahawks visit the Raiders in Week 10

The Seahawks and Raiders meet in Week 10 at Allegiant Stadium, with the matchup shaped by familiarity and contrast. Seattle’s Mike Macdonald and Las Vegas head coach Klint Kubiak previously worked together in Seattle, and the Seahawks believe that knowledge goes both ways, creating a chess match of adjustment rather than a simple advantage.

Seattle’s defensive challenge is quarterback- and tape-dependent. Las Vegas is turning to rookie Fernando Mendoza for his first start after trading Kirk Cousins to the Vikings earlier this week. Seattle’s coaches and players say the difficulty is that there is “almost no tape” on Mendoza with the Raiders, but they point to the Seahawks’ own performance profile this season and their belief they can pressure a young quarterback in coverage and on the front.

Another storyline is whether Seattle can sustain the run-and-identity improvement it showed last weekend versus Arizona. The Seahawks’ offensive burst came from Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price, who returned from injury and saw increased usage compared to the earlier meeting at Chicago, combining for 164 of Seattle’s 295 total yards in the win over the Cardinals.

Seattle’s secondary matchup centers on Nick Emmanwori’s coverage. Seattle highlighted Emmanwori’s ability to limit targeted production on elite tight ends, including a game-plan that kept Trey McBride relatively quiet when Arizona’s Gardner Minshew tested him in the red zone. This week brings another top-tier tight end test in Las Vegas, with Seattle expecting Emmanwori to play a major role.

Finally, the Seahawks’ own offense is looking for faster explosiveness. Seattle said it would like to get back to big-play production after last week’s win included no plays of 20-plus yards, and it will try to exploit a Raiders defense it describes as vulnerable to explosive plays, while also managing Seattle’s own turnover concerns.