The Seattle Seahawks will look to move to 5-1 on the season when they take on the Cleveland Browns Sunday at 10:00 a.m. PT. A victory would signal Seattle’s first 3-0 road start since 1980, proving just how difficult it is to win away from CenturyLink Field.
Complicating things even more is the possibility the team will be without both Duane Brown and D.J. Fluker on the offensive line making the matchup against elite pass rusher Myles Garrett loom even larger.
How Seattle handles Garrett up front is one of many storylines for fans to pay close attention to in Sunday’s game. Here are our three things to watch for on Sunday.
Can the offensive line protect with two new starters?
Although it is not yet official, it seems likely the Seahawks will go into their game against the Browns without Duane Brown or D.J. Fluker, two of their starters on the offensive line.
George Fant and Jamarco Jones are expected to replace them, leaving just Joey Hunt and Jordan Roos – who was just recalled from the practice squad – available as backups.
Jones looked great filling in for Fluker last Thursday against the Rams, but he’ll have to prove it wasn’t just a fluke in what will be his second-ever appearance at guard.
Fant has plenty of experience, but the Seahawks still lose quite a bit without Brown’s experience, vision and perception out on the field.
Going up against a defense that features Myles Garrett will make this an extremely difficult task for the Seahawks and is likely the biggest hurdle in between them and a 5-1 start to the season.
Will Russell Wilson continue his MVP pace?
Through the first five games of the 2019 NFL season, Russell Wilson has established himself as not only one of the best players in the game but as a legitimate MVP candidate.
Wilson is sporting a league-leading 12-to-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio along with 1,409 passing yards and a 73.1 completion percentage.
Additionally, his 90.7 grade from Pro Football Focus is the highest in the league among quarterbacks.
Wilson will need a strong performance against the Browns to stay in the running alongside Patrick Mahomes and Christian McCaffrey, and doing so with a depleted offensive line against Garrett and the Browns defense will further illustrate his standing as the best player in the NFL.
Will the pass rush finally come alive?
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has teased for the last week or so that the team’s pass rush – namely veterans Jadeveon Clowney and Ezekiel Ansah – is about to come alive.
Clowney’s performance lately has certainly lived up to that hype, but Ansah has yet to display the pass-rushing acumen that led to him racking up 48.0 sacks in seven years as a member of the Lions.
If Ansah and Clowney can each have good games against the Browns, it will go a long way toward keeping Baker Mayfield uncomfortable in the pocket and preventing him from making big plays to Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry.
Of course, running back Nick Chubb will be an issue as well, and that will require additional effort from guys like Poona Ford, Al Woods and possibly rookie L.J. Collier, who is expected to have a role in this contest.
The Seahawks need to be sharp on both sides of the football if they want to earn a victory and keep pace in the very competitive NFC West.
