The Seahawks are back home following back-to-back road wins, and will host the Packers on Sunday Night Football in a clash between two NFC Playoff contenders.

The Seahawks have won four in a row to move into first place in the NFC West with an 8-5 record, while the Packers bring a 9-4 record with them to Lumen Field after a close loss to Detroit last Thursday night.

"They play a great brand of football," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. "They play winning football. They've been doing it throughout their entire franchise history and especially since Matt's (LaFleur) got there and doing his thing. We've got a lot of respect for them and how they play. They're a physical football team, they play really hard, they attack the football, and they take care of it on offense. They do all the things necessary that you need to do to be a really good football team. They do those things."

Here are five things to watch when the Seahawks host the Packers Sunday night:

1. Can a Seahawks defense on an impressive run of strong play slow down Packers running back Josh Jacobs?

Jacobs, who signed with the Packers as a free agent this spring after five seasons with the Raiders, has been a huge addition for Green Bay's offense, rushing for 1,053 yards through his first 13 games, the third most in the NFL heading into Week 15, while also scoring 11 rushing touchdowns. And even if Seahawks fans haven't watched a lot of Packers football this year's they're surely aware of his abilities thanks to his 229-yard performance in Seattle in a 2022 Raiders overtime win.

"Obviously they can run the ball, they run the ball really well," defensive coordinator Aden Durde said. "Their ability to get off the ball, you see the speed of their o-line, the way they move off the ball. They create lanes and Josh Jacobs doesn't need much space and then vertically, they can stress you. They've got gas all over their skill (positions). They're good to watch. They do a lot of good things."

As Durde mentioned, the Packers have a lot of speed on offense, and the running game helps create favorable matchups that have led to big plays in the passing game for Jordan Love, who throws a great deep ball, and his receivers. A good running game also makes it harder to get after the quarterback, which helps explain why Love has only been sacked 11 times this season.

"I think you have to create passing situations, and that starts with stopping the run," Durde said of the pass rush. "Ultimately, I know it's an old defensive line cliche, but you've got to earn the right to rush the passer in this league, especially in games like this. Once you get it, you've got to be locked in. You've got to be working as four or five players, whoever's rushing, and you've got to go. To me, it's a mindset and intention. There's obviously technique of things that come in it, but it's just the way you've got to take the field and go."

The Seahawks have been really good on defense going back to their Week 9 overtime loss to the Rams, and they made considerable improvement on run defense starting with that game, but Jacobs and Green Bay's running game will provide one of the biggest tests to date for Seattle's defense.

2. Can Seattle's offense again be turnover free against one of the league's best defenses at forcing turnovers?

The Seahawks did not commit a turnover in last week's victory in Arizona, and the offense was also turnover free the week before against the Jets, although there were two big turnovers on special teams. That's an encouraging trend for an offense that had only two turnover-free performances through the first 11 games of the season.

And ball security will be a huge focus this week for Geno Smith and Seattle's offense, because the Packers have one of the league's best defenses when it comes to creating turnovers. Green Bay's 24 takeaways are tied for the third most in the NFL, and they have multiple takeaways in eight of their 13 games.

"They've got some ball-hawking guys," Smith said. "One of their safeties I think leads the league or is tied for the lead in the league in interceptions, (Xavier) McKinney, and he's been a perennial Pro Bowler. He's been a great player throughout his career. I think he's a really good safety back there. So eyes on him, where he is. Jaire (Alexander) is supposed to be playing, I'm guessing, and again, he's been a perennial Pro Bowler, a top corner in this league. So he's often making plays on the ball. Those guys are really trying to hunt picks, man. They're trying to find ways to get turnovers for their team. For us, it's always going to be the emphasis taking care of the ball. That's first and foremost. But we want to be aggressive. We want to stay aggressive, as well, and take our shots."

3. Does the offensive line and running game build off of last weekend's impressive performance with or without Kenneth Walker III?

After facing plenty of scrutiny this season, some of it fair, some of it not, Seattle's offensive line had its best game of the season last week, leading the way for a season-high 176 rushing yards, while also helping Geno Smith play his first sack-free game of the season, with Arizona managing only a pair of quarterback hits.

And the Seahawks were able to have that big game on the ground despite the absence of starting running back Kenneth Walker III due to a calf injury. With Walker sidelined, Zach Charbonnet rushed for a career-high 134 yards and two scores, adding 59 more yards receiving.

"I've got to say hats off to the big guys up front," quarterback Geno Smith said. "It starts with those guys. I thought just when you watch the film, like I thought they did a tremendous job of finishing. You see a bunch of guys pushing the pile, you see guys running down the field, getting extra blocks. I think when you look at the run game, you think about the big splash plays, but a lot of times those unsung heroes and those unsung plays are just the little things, just giving extra effort, and I thought that was great from the guys. It's something we've been building on and we look forward to continuing."

With Walker missing the first two days of practice this week, it's possible the Seahawks will be without their top back again while facing a Packers defense that ranks in the top 10 in the league both in rushing yards and yards-per-carry allowed, but the way Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh ran behind an improving line, the Seahawks will still like their chances to run the ball regardless of who is carrying the load.

4. Do the Seahawks continue their interception streak against a QB who hasn't thrown one in the past three games?

For all his considerable talents, one of the few flaws in Packers quarterback Jordan Love's game for much of this season was a propensity to throw interceptions. But after ranking among the league-leaders in picks earlier in the season, Love has gone three straight game without throwing a pick. A lot of that has to do with Love, who was banged up earlier this season, getting healthier, and it also doesn't hurt that he has one of the league's best running games to fall back on.

But as efficient as Love has been of late, keeping up that turnover free streak won't be easy against a Seahawks defense that has recorded at least one interception in seven straight games, including two last week that both led to touchdowns, as well as a pair of pick-sixes during that streak. And it hasn't just been one or two players taking the ball away; the Seahawks have gotten interceptions from seven different players during that seven-game streak: Coby Bryant, Julian Love, Josh Jobe, Riq Woolen, Johnathan Hankins, Bryant again, Leonard Wiliams, Bryant again and Ernest Jones IV.

5. Can Jaxon Smith-Njigba continue his hot streak against Green Bay's playmaking secondary?

Second-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba has led the Seahawks in receiving yards in six straight games, gaining 592 yards with four touchdowns over that span, helping him move up to sixth in the NFL in receiving yards this season with 911.

Smith-Njigba has been particularly effective in the slot, gaining a league-high 767 yards on targets out of the slot, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, including 167 deep yards, the third most in the league.

The 2023 first-round pick's success is a result of his talent and hard work, and of the building chemistry he has with Geno Smith, he has also been able to take advantage of some favorable looks when teams put an emphasis on slowing down DK Metcalf. Metcalf has still found ways to produce both as a pass catcher and by doing the little things to help the offense when the ball isn’t coming his way, but he has also appreciated watching Smith-Njigba emerge as a young star.

"Just to see him put everything together, I mean it's kind of like a proud parent or a big brother moment just to see him have the success, and I know he's going to continue to have major success in his league," Metcalf said.

Having major success this week won't be easy for Smith-Njigba, Metcalf and the rest of Seattle's pass catchers while going up against a talented, ball-hawking secondary. As detailed above, the Packers are one of the best teams in the NFL at taking the ball away, starting with safety Xavier McKinney, who has an NFL-best seven interceptions, and they also have allowed just one opponent this season, Miami two weeks ago, to have 300 or more net passing yards in a game.