The Seahawks improved to 2-0 with a win in New England last weekend, and now they return home to face another AFC East opponent, the Miami Dolphins. Led by head coach Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins bring one of the NFL's most explosive offenses to Lumen Field, providing a good test for the Seahawks and head coach Mike Macdonald's defense.

"They do a phenomenal job," Macdonald said of McDaniel's offense. "The stats back it up, very well coached. We talk about elegance, simplicity, it's consistent for the quarterback, the angles in the run game, the speed on the field, how they're able to include everybody, all their playmakers and stuff. They play incredibly fast. They do a great job. I'm a broken record, but every week it's, we have to have a sound game plan that is complimentary. We have to really execute it because the looks are not consistent from week to week, so you have to apply rules once the game kind of hits and be able to adjust on the fly. Got a challenge ahead of us."

Here are five things to watch in Sunday's game against the Dolphins:

1. After two strong performances to start the season, how does the Seahawks secondary perform against an explosive Dolphins passing attack?

The Seahawks have been very stingy when it comes to their pass defense through two games, allowing 257 passing yards, the second fewest in the NFL, with just one passing touchdown and two interceptions. But as good as the back end of Seattle's defense has been, the Seahawks have not yet faced an opponent like Miami, which stresses defenses in unique ways with speed and deception, and some of the most explosive weapons in the league, led by All-Pro receiver Tyreek Hill.

"A bunch of fast guys, a bunch of shifts and motions to get your eyes out of place; those two things paired together can create problems," said safety Rayshawn Jenkins. "Every week in the NFL is a new challenge, so we just see it as a new opportunity, a new challenge. We're going up against a different style of offense, so need to adjust the gameplan a little bit and that will be that."

Particularly intriguing in this game will be any downfield matchup between Hill and Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen, two of the fastest players in the sport.

"That's a lot of speed, man," Jenkins said. "It'll definitely bring the best out of both players. Both players will have a challenge."

Keeping an explosive offense like Miami's completely in check isn't realistic for any NFL defense, but the Seahawks see this contest as a strength vs. strength situation, and they like their chances of matching up well in the secondary.

"We've got different guys that bring a lot of different things to the table," Jenkins said. "So if you've got a speed guy, we've got a speed guy, if you've got a strong guy, we've got a strong guys. If you've got guys who can go east and west, we've got guys for that. So I feel like we match up very well because of the versatility we have on the back end."

2. Can the Seahawks improve in the running game on both sides of the ball?

Just about any football coach you ask will point to the running game as key factor on both sides of the ball, and Macdonald is no different, so while he's happy to be 2-0, Seattle's coach wasn't thrilled with seeing his team outrushed 185 yards to 46. There's a bit more to the story than just those numbers, for sure. For starters, the Seahawks were without starting running back Kenneth Walker III, and the Patriots defense puts a lot of effort into stopping the run, which helps explain Seattle's big day through the air. And on the other side of the ball, the Seahawks were able to shut down the passing game for the most part, limiting the overall damage despite a strong performance from an offense that is fully committed to the running game.

But regardless of the circumstances, Seattle's defense knows 185 yards isn't an acceptable number, just like the offense knows it would help to get the running game going to take some pressure off of Geno Smith and the passing game.

"That does make us mad," defensive tackle Jarran Reed said of New England's rushing numbers. "We have to be way better than that. We're a better team than that, a better unit. We're going to get better."

As for the offense, getting Walker back would obviously help, but whether or not he's able to play this week, the Seahawks want to see more push up front.

"We've got to move people, man," Macdonald said. "Right now, we're not moving them. So that's a challenge for us moving forward."

3. Which pass-catcher or pass-catchers steps up with a big game for Seattle's offense this time around?

The Seahawks' season-opening win featured a strong performance from veteran receiver Tyler Lockett, who led the team with six catches for 77 yards, including the third-down catch that clinched the win over the Broncos. A week later, Lockett had just two catches—though one of them was massive, coming on the game-winning drive in overtime—yet Geno Smith was still able to have a prolific day while completing 12 passes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 117 yards, and 10 more to DK Metcalf for 129 yards, including a 56-yard score. Lockett was still very important in that game, drawing a couple of crucial pass interference calls in addition to that 16-yard grab in overtime, but what Sunday helped demonstrate is how many different weapons Smith has at his disposal in the passing game, making life difficult on opposing defenses.

So far, Metcalf has spent a lot of time being covered by opponents' top cornerback, and that could happen again this week with Jalen Ramsey, but the beauty of Seattle's passing attack is that even if a team is putting extra attention on Metcalf or any other receiver, there are other options at receiver, tight end and running back who can make an opposing defense pay.

"We're really, really blessed with the guys we have here, skill-wise, and I think that puts a lot of stress back on the defense," offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said. "If they are trying to shut one guy down, it gets really obvious. If there's brackets on one player, or they're trying to take a guy away, you know there's going to be the ability to open up the other lanes. Geno does a good job of understanding the progression and when the primary is one guy vs. another guy."

4. Coming off an outstanding Week 2 performance, what does Geno Smith do this week against a familiar defense?

Geno Smith's first pass attempt of the season was intercepted, the result of him being hit as he threw, but Seattle's quarterback has been nearly flawless since that opening drive turnover. And Smith was particularly good last weekend, even by the high standard he has set over the past two Pro-Bowl seasons, completing 33 of 44 attempts for 327 yards and a touchdown on a day when the Seahawks rushed for just 46 yards. Most importantly, Smith came through with the game on the line, not once but twice, leading a game-tying drive at the end of regulation and a game-winning drive in overtime.

To Smith's teammates, that performance was just the latest example of why people need to be putting more respect on their quarterback's name.

"Y'all been calling this man underrated for three years, and when is it going to stop?" DK Metcalf said. "But, he's not underrated by any means. He's an NFL quarterback, just like 31 other NFL quarterbacks. I don't think the underrated title should be used anymore. He's very successful in what he does. He's led us to one playoff appearance and should have been in the playoffs last year. But, we just got to play better as a team, do better for him on offense. But, his preparation, his approach to the game has always been the same.

"He's a great leader at quarterback and great at what he does at the quarterback position."

The Seahawks hope they won't need to be as reliant on the passing game this week—see the earlier item about the running game—but they also know that if the game requires another big performance from Smith, the veteran QB will be up to the challenge.

As for this week's opponent, the challenge at hand for Smith and the offense will be facing off with a defense that looks a lot like the one they see in practice every day, a Dolphins defense led by defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, who before taking that job this offseason, spent the last three seasons as the defensive line coach in Baltimore.

Macdonald noted that Weaver's defense isn't a carbon copy of what the two of them worked together on in Baltimore, but there are still plenty of similarities.

"It's only been two games of film that we can watch on these guys, but we've practiced against a similar style defense for a while," Smith said. "You can expect them to have some of the same things that gave us problems in camp and would give any team problems in their protection. But also, they're going to have some things that we haven't seen yet. So, the key thing is for us to all be on the same page, to know what we're seeing. Obviously, to get the right Mike (linebacker) points and get the right protection calls, and then go out there and execute and try to beat whatever defense we're seeing on game day."

Adding the level of familiarity for Smith and the offense will be the presence of inside linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who signed with Miami this offseason after four seasons with the Seahawks.

"It's going to be fun," Smith said. "We always appreciated Jordyn around here. He's always been a great player. We know what he brings to the table. He's a fast run and hit type of linebacker, great in coverage, he understands offenses. We've got to have some ways to attack and really to eliminate him. But Jordyn, he's going to go out there and he's going to do his thing, and our job is to go out there and score points no matter who's on the field. So, like I said, we always appreciate him, we love him here, but we've got to do what we've got to do."

5. Can Seattle's pass rush, along with the crowd, make life difficult on Dolphins backup quarterback Skylar Thompson?

With starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa unfortunately on injured reserve due to a concussion, the Dolphins will start Skylar Thompson, a 2022 seventh-round pick who has made three career starts, postseason included.

The Seahawks know they can't take any player for granted in the NFL, particularly not a quarterback running McDaniel's scheme and throwing to the weapons the Dolphins have on offense, so they won't come into the game overconfident just because they're facing a backup quarterback.

But while the Seahawks know they'll have their work cut out for them, one difference Macdonald noted between Miami's quarterbacks is that Thompson is willing to hold the ball and extend plays more so than Tagovailoa.

"He's willing to keep the ball a little bit longer than Tua," Macdonald said. "Tua was playing really fast and the ball comes out pretty quickly on time, on target. He's got the same ability to do those things, but I'd say the ability also if you add the extended play to that element, that's something that you have to take into account probably more so than with Tua."

While a quarterback being willing to extend plays can create big plays for an offense, it can also lead to more opportunities for the pass rush, and the Seahawks have done a good job of putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks so far this season.

The Seahawks have five sacks through two games, which ranks a middle-of-the-back tied for 15^th in the NFL, but that doesn't paint a full picture of the pass rush so far. Despite blitzing at only a 22.2 percent rate, which ranks 22^nd in the NFL, the Seahawks are tied for third in quarterback pressures with 31, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, and they rank sixth in pressure rate at 38.3 percent.

The Seahawks will hope that their pass rush, as well as a loud home crowd, can make life difficult on a young quarterback.

"I think it's coming along really well," defensive lineman Leonard Williams said of the pass rush. "Throughout camp we knew we had a lot of different guys who can rush from all over the D-line. I think we've been doing a good job of utilizing everybody's strengths, then also as players we're learning to play off of each other more as well."