The Seahawks are back home this week, looking to bounce back from a tough road loss to the Lions. Overall, a 3-1 start has the Seattle in a good spot, leading the NFC West, but players and coaches also know it is important this week learn from their recent loss if they're going to get back to their winning ways.

"Obviously man, it sucks," quarterback Geno Smith said of Monday's loss. "You never want to lose, we're all about winning over here. That was a game we felt like we could have won, but we didn't. We're 3-1 right now. The first quarter of the season's over. We were 75 percent in the first quarter. Now it's on to the second quarter of the season. Some really tough matchups moving forward, so guys have got to be on it. This is the time for us, especially for me, I feel like I haven't played my best yet, to get rolling. I think it's going to start here soon. I'm starting to get into my groove and us as a team, as an offense, really got to lock in and play together. Be connected, do all the little things, take care of business, and then go out there and take it one game at a time."

Smith at the Seahawks will look to get into that groove on Sunday when the host the Giants at Lumen Field. Here are five things to watch in that NFC clash:

1. How does the defense respond to a subpar outing?

Yes, the Seahawks were severely shorthanded against the Lions, with Leonard Williams, Boye Mafe, Uchenna Nwosu, Byron Murphy II and Jerome Baker all missing the game, and with Julian Love leaving with an injury before halftime, but regardless of who was on the field, the performance that allowed the Lions to score 42 points wasn't good enough according to players and coaches.

Now, with at least some of those players likely to return, the Seahawks defense will get a chance to get back on track and show that they're closer to the unit that looked dominant for much of the first three games, and not the group that made too many mistakes and gave up too many explosive plays against the Lions.

"We just need to play our style of football all the time," safety Rayshawn Jenkins said. "We were fortunate enough to be in a prime-time game Monday, and it didn't really go too well for the defense. I thought the offense played well enough for us to win, I said that after the game. But the defense, we really just need to be on the details. Everything that they did or we gave them was all self-inflicted. Had we played a few things better, it would have been a way better game.

Jenkins added that "things just got out of whack a little bit Monday night," and now he and his teammates are eager to make it right, but not so eager that they'll get away from the fundamentals that helped them play so well the first three weeks.

"You have that bad taste in your mouth for a couple of days, and you want to go out there and make things right again, so you're eager to the get to that next game," Jenkins said. "But at the same time, you have to respect the process as well. You may be eager and can't wait to play, the Giants in this case, but at the end of the day, you still have to go through the Tuesday, the Wednesday, the Thursday, the days of preparation leading up to the game. I always say, you've got to earn the right to win."

And speaking of the defense bouncing back…

2. Can the defense force some turnovers?

The Seahawks forced three turnovers in their season-opening win over the Broncos, interceptions by Julian Love and Riq Woolen and a forced fumble by K'Von Wallace that was recovered by Jerome Baker. Since that game, however, the Seahawks do not have a takeaway. Seattle has won two of their three games without a takeaway, but that lack of turnovers still doesn't sit well with head coach Mike Macdonald, who last year oversaw a Ravens defense that led the league with 31 takeaways.

So against a Giants team that has committed six turnovers in four games, Macdonald and company want to see that streak of takeaway-free games come to an end on Sunday.

"You can't go three games with no takeaways and two games in a row losing the takeaway battle and expect to have success," Macdonald said. "So that's definitely a point of emphasis with us. But you've got to do it the right way. The ball comes alive when you play the right way on defense. You can't sacrifice tackles for the ball. All those things are important to stress, but I think it's more important that we focus on playing the right way and attacking the ball when those opportunities come alive. Then, I think you might see some of those numbers start to jump."

3. How does an improving offensive line hold up against a tough Giants front?

Seattle's offensive line played, as Macdonald put it, "probably played their best game of the season so far" against the Lions, helping the offense total 516 yards and a franchise record 38 first downs. Making the challenge even tougher was the fact that the Seahawks were very pass-heavy in that game, attempting 56 passes, something that puts even more stress on a line.

"I just like how they fought through the whole game," offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said of the line. "I thought they were the ones that kept us in it. There was a belief that we were going to get it within one score, and we did. It's just their competitive nature against a really good defensive front for Detroit. I thought it inspired a lot of the guys around them."

Now, Seattle's line will try to continue their progress against what might be the best defensive front they've seen so far this season. The Giants defensive front, led by Pro Bowl nose tackled Dexter Lawrence and Pro Bowl defensive end Brian Burns, as well as former No. 5 overall pick Kayvon Thibodeaux, has the ability to put a lot of stress on an offensive line from directions, making it hard to focus too much attention on any one threat.

"They're really good, across the board," Grubb said. "I'd say as far as all four of them, this is the best (defensive) front we'll face. They obviously have a really good nose (tackle) and two defensive ends that could play anywhere in the league. I think there really isn't a resting spot, if you will, on the offensive line this week at any given point. They just got to be ready to go and battle and fight. I think that's the biggest part, there's a lot of confidence that they will do that. They know it's a tall order, and I think the biggest part is they're up for it."

4. Can Geno Smith and the passing game keep putting up big numbers?

While passing numbers around the NFL are down this season compared to recent years, the Seahawks have been throwing the ball all over the field through their first four games, with Geno Smith leading the NFL in passing yards (1,182), completions (115) and attempts (159), and he has been very accurate despite that high volume, completing 72.3 percent of his passes, which ranks second in the league.

In addition to Smith's numbers, the Seahawks have gotten impressive production out of their receivers led by DK Metcalf, who last week became the first player in franchise history with 100 receiving yards in three consecutive games.

The Giants have been banged up at cornerback and are hoping to get healthier by Sunday, but with Smith and his weapons playing the way they have, they'll like their chances to move the ball through the air against just about any defense.

Grubb noted that the situation of playing from behind played into last week's big numbers, so the Seahawks will try to be a bit more balanced going forward. But then again, as Grubb said, "Geno's playing at a really high level. I felt like, I said it for quite a while now, I think that Geno's an elite quarterback, and it's showing up."

5. Does the guard rotation continue, and if so does either Anthony Bradford or Christian Haynes seize the job?

The Seahawks opened the season with Anthony Bradford as their starting right guard, and the second-year lineman has started all four games, but twice this season, including Monday, the Seahawks have rotated rookie Christian Haynes in at that spot as well. Hayes played 40 percent of the snaps last week, his most playing time yet, and Macdonald said the competition will likely continue this week.

And while the Seahawks will want to settle on one player at that spot at some point going forward, the competition seems to be bringing out the best in both players for now.

"I thought they both had some really good points," Grubb said. "I thought there was a couple points there where both of them played their best football of the year, so I think the competitive spirit is helping that. I think some of the things that we still got to brush up in practice are still showing up on tape, but I thought Christian did a better job of not getting overwhelmed. I thought AB did a better job of sustaining long drives and playing through the whistle and all those things. I think the challenges that were set out for both of them, they both accomplished."

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