The Opposing View, An Insider's Look At the Seahawks' Week 2 Opponent, The New England Patriots.

Five questions from Seahawks.com about this week's opponent; five answers from Patriots.com writer Mike Dussault.

The Seahawks head to New England for the first time since 2016 for a matchup of two teams featuring new head coaches who are replacing a pair of coaching legends. The Seahawks and Patriots both won their openers, with Seattle beating Denver at home, while the Patriots pulled off one of the biggest upsets of Week 1, winning at Cincinnati. To help you get ready for this game, we reached out to Patriots.com writer Mike Dussault with five questions about Seattle's Week 2 opponent:

Jerod Mayo is a young, first-time head coach following in the footsteps of a legend (hey, that sounds familiar), what has Mayo brought to the organization after so many years under Bill Belichick, and how is he walking the line between embracing what his former boss built and being his own man/coach?

Dussault: As evidenced by the Patriots Week 1 win, Mayo seems like he doesn't mind doing it like Belichick did by playing good clean football in all three phases and limiting mistakes. Even Mayo's training camp had a lot of Belichick-ian flare, maybe even more so, as the team had a lot of padded practices and were even tackling to the ground during one particularly tough session. Those had the team ready to go against the Bengals. Otherwise, Mayo has established himself as his own coach in a few different ways. Some aesthetics around the stadium have undergone a change, the coaching staff has expanded dramatically in size and Mayo's commitment to not just making quality football players but quality men has been a consistent theme for the new coach. Off the field things feel different, but at least as far as the opening game went, things on the field seem pretty similar.

What did New England's Week 1 upset at Cincinnati do for the team's belief/confidence going forward under Mayo?

Dussault: It was huge, there's no question. As we're learning, a win during a rebuilding phase is worth its weight in gold. It was validating for the new staff and certainly helped reinforce the buy-in from the players. The New England media can be pretty tough on their sports teams, and Mayo got a limited grace period from the rabid fans and pundits. The Week 1 win had to be gratifying for him and Eliot Wolf as they look to charter the team into its next phase. The win over Cincinnati and how well-coached the Patriots looked seemed like a proof-of-concept game for the new regime.

New England's quarterback competition was a big story heading into the season, what led to Jacoby Brissett getting the job, and what does he bring to the offense?

Dussault: It never really seemed like a true competition to be honest. Brissett always got every first team rep I witnessed from the spring through the summer. First-round pick Drake Maye had some splash plays that were intriguing to everyone and that turned up the noise a bit, but I'm not sure he was ever going to do enough to really push Brissett from the starter spot. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt acknowledged how hard it is to be an NFL quarterback and it seems like the plan all along has been to let Maye develop for a while behind the scenes, getting experience while working on his mechanics and understanding of the scheme while Brissett does what he did against the Bengals, take a bunch of hits and use his veteran experience to help the team pull out a win. Brissett didn't do much through the air in that game, but he made enough plays to keep the offense on track at critical moments. He'll have to figure out how to get the ball downfield to his receivers more consistently if they're going to keep up against teams that can score into the 20s.

Other than the more obvious big names, what player/players could you see being an X-factor in this game?

Dussault: Keion White is a rising force on the Patriots defense. He came away from Week 1 with 2.5 sacks and was pretty disruptive from a number of spots along the line. Third-year slot cornerback Marcus Jones has battled injuries through his first two seasons, but he's a dynamic player who is dangerous as a punt returner. Lastly, rookie Ja'Lynn Polk, who I'm sure plenty of people around Seattle are well familiar with, had just one catch in Week 1 but looked on film like he was getting open a lot. The Patriots could look to target him more against the Seahawks, he had a consistent training camp.

What matchup or matchups are you most looking forward to seeing play out on Sunday?

Dussault: The critical matchups, and I don't know if I'm looking forward to them, will be along the offensive line of the Patriots. They've had big problems at left tackle all summer and those carried over in the regular season. I'd expect Vederian Lowe to get the start and I'm sure the Seahawks will heavily test both him and rookie right guard Layden Robinson. How the Patriots cornerbacks match up with Seattle's top three receivers will be a good one too. Christian Gonzalez had a strong return after playing in just four games last season. He's a stud athlete and I'm curious how they'll use him. He was sticky in coverage against Ja'Marr Chase and has performed well in some big-time matchups during his limited career.