After opening their season with a win at home, the Seahawks hit the road this weekend to face the New England Patriots, their first trip to Foxborough since a thrilling victory in 2016.

The game is a matchup between two teams led by young, first-year head coaches who are taking over for legendary coaches, and both are looking to build off of encouraging debuts. Mike Macdonald's Seahawks thrived on defense while overcoming a rough start offensively to beat the Broncos 26-20, while Jerod Mayo's Patriots pulled off an upset in Cincinnati, winning with a physical running game and stingy defense.

Given the style of play these two teams aspire to, Macdonald is expecting a tough, physical contest.

"They have really good players with sound, good fundamental schemes, good change-ups," he said. "I know we have really good players with what I believe are sound schemes and change-ups. We're going to have to see how each team is trying to attack each other throughout the game. This is going to be a four-quarter, old-school football game. Like it's going to come down to who makes the plays at the end. That was the message to the team today. It's going to be a great game."

Here are five things to watch in Sunday's "four-quarter, old-school" game:

1. Can the offense get out of its own way, particularly early in the game?

On the Seahawks' first 11 possessions last week, they gained positive yardage to kick off the drive four times, and on one occasion they had a run for zero yards. Those five drives produced two field goals and three touchdowns. And the other six possessions over that span, which covered the first three quarters? Every one of them started with a negative play, be it a penalty, a sack, or a negative run, and those seven possessions resulted in two safeties, a turnover and three punts.

In other words, when the Seahawks didn't start a drive by going backwards, they scored points. And while succeeding on offense isn't quite as simple as "don't screw up the start of a drive" it really helps to, well, not screw up the start of a drive. And in New England, the Seahawks are going to face a talented, stingy defense that will require a much cleaner game if Seattle is going to be effective on offense.

"We want to not have that happen going forward," quarterback Geno Smith said of his offense's slow start. "But any time you have adversity and you're able to overcome it, it always speaks well for your team, for the guys on the team. But obviously we would like to start a lot better, and that's been the emphasis all week, is starting fast and obviously sustain it throughout the entire game.

To Smith, cleaning that up means, "Not making mistakes, having those self-inflicted wounds, penalties, turnovers, those type of things. And then obviously going out there, having fun and executing. That's the main thing. Is that we're just out there doing our jobs. I thought we did a better job of that in the second half, and then you could see the consistency in our drives. So I think if we just do a better job at that, we will have a shot."

2. How do the Seahawks do against a bigger test in the running game?

The Seahawks played incredibly well on defense in the opener, but the challenge presented by Denver was much different than what Seattle is likely to see in New England. While the Broncos leaned on a short passing game, which Seattle's defensive backs and linebackers were able to keep in check, the Patriots will likely continue to rely on the rushing attack that produced 170 yards last week, including 120 yards on 25 carries from Rhamondre Stevenson, a 227-pound bruiser of a back who is a load to bring down.

The Seahawks only allowed 99 rushing yards last week, 35 of which came on QB scrambles, holding Denver's running backs to 3.2 yards per carry, but it will be a tough challenge to keep New England's rushing attack in check.

"They're not trying to hide anything; hey tell you everywhere in the media, wherever, they're trying to run the ball," safety Rayshawn Jenkins said. "That's what they're trying to do. They've got a good back in 38 (Stevenson), so as well as we tackled last week, last week is last week. Every week is a new opportunity, so we have to come out there and showcase those same abilities and skill again, especially against a runner like that."

3. Does an opponent have its top cornerback shadow DK Metcalf for the second straight week?

For most of last week's game, DK Metcalf was shadowed by Broncos Pro-Bowl cornerback Patrick Surtain II, a good battle between two at the best in the business at their respective jobs. Metcalf had a relatively quiet game, statistically speaking, catching three passes for 29 yards, but he also drew a pair of penalties on Surtain, one for defensive holding and one for pass interference. And just as significantly, he did plenty of little things that don't show up on the stat sheet, not the least of which was the route he ran on the game-clinching third-down completion to Tyler Lockett, a play design that used Metcalf's route to help provide the small amount of separation Lockett needed to make the catch.

"I thought DK did a lot of great things," Macdonald said. "There was an opportunity for him to make a play down the field, but found the ball a little bit later in the game. Like I mentioned too, there's a lot of little things that he does that creates success for the rest of the team, and that's big. So he needs to keep doing those things, and obviously we've got to try to get the ball to him earlier in the game to get him involved and get him rocking and rolling. I'm confident we'll do that. But I thought DK played a really good game."

In The Patriots' opener, meanwhile, second-year cornerback Christian Gonzalez spent most of his day covering Bengals Pro-Bowl receiver Ja'Marr Chase, helping limit Chase to six catches for 62 yards. While the Patriots very well could change things up, it stands to reason that Metcalf will again see a lot of the opponent's top cornerback, and he's looking forward to that challenge against the 2023 first-round pick.

"He's a very physical corner in press coverage," Metcalf said. "When he's off coverage, he tries to keep everything in front of him. I think this is just his fifth game in the NFL, so we're going to see how he holds up for four quarters. You know he's a very good young player."

4. Can Seattle's defense keep creating turnovers against a savvy veteran quarterback?

The Seahawks forced three turnovers in Sunday's win, just part of what was a strong all-around performance from the defense. Safety Julian Love and cornerback Riq Woolen each intercepted Bo Nix, while safety K'Von Wallace forced a fumble that was recovered by Jerome Baker. And there were opportunities for even more takeaways, but linebacker Tyrel Dodson and cornerback Devon Witherspoon getting their hands on passes, and with Love forcing a fumble that bounced right to another Denver player.

The Seahawks obviously want to take the ball away from opponents in every game, but they know that the turnovers won't come as easily against a veteran quarterback like Jacoby Brissett. Over the course of a nine-year career that has seen him split time between starting and being a backup, Brissett has been intercepted on only 1.4 percent of his career pass attempts, tied with Aaron Rodgers for the lowest interception in league history.

"Jacoby is a really good quarterback," Macdonald said. "He's highly intelligent. He's underratedly mobile. If you let him run, he can move going forward. I think he delivers an accurate ball. He plays efficiently. He definitely has a very strong grasp of what they're asking him in terms of executing their system. They're playing clean football right now. It doesn't look like the new age, like sexy offenses that you're seeing these days, but I'll tell you what, it's really, really effective. It comes down to how you move the football, and they're doing that effectively right now."

5. Which young, first-year head coach comes out on top?

When the Patriots hired Jerod Mayo in January, he became the youngest head coach in the NFL, and a first-time head coach who was replacing Bill Belichick, a legend who led the franchise to new heights during his memorable tenure in New England.

Less than three weeks later, Mayo lost that youngest head coach title when the Seahawks hired Mike Macdonald, a first-time head coach who was replacing Pete Carroll, a legend who led the franchise to new heights during his memorable tenure in Seattle.

Neither coach's career will be defined by a Week 2 game in their first season on the job, but the game will still provide a great early test for both Macdonald and Mayo to match wits with each other. Though it should come as no surprise that Macdonald isn't about to make this game about the coaching matchup.

"I think Coach Mayo and I would agree that this game is not about us," Macdonald said. "It's not. It's about our guys going out and playing and making the plays that it's going to take to win the game. Our age really has nothing to do with what's about to happen on Sunday."