The Seahawks (3-3) travel to Atlanta (4-2) this weekend looking to end a three-game losing streak, and they'll be attempting to get back on track against a Falcons squad that has won three straight following a 1-2 start.

"We're eager," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. "It's all in front of us. The guys know we have such an opportunity. We're 3-3, we haven't been playing our best ball, and we felt like we had an opportunity to win each game in some stretch. It felt like, 'Hey there's an opportunity for us to become a great team,' so we've got to go do it."

For the second time this season, a Seahawks game will feature a matchup of new head coaches, with Raheem Morris taking over in Atlanta this offseason a week before Seattle hired Macdonald.

Here are five things to watch in Sunday's matchup at Mercedes-Benz Stadium:

1. Can a short break after a brutal three-game stretch help jumpstart a turnaround for the Seahawks?

Seahawks players got a weekend off following last Thursday's game, and not only was the break a welcome chance to refresh and reset following the aforementioned losing streak, it was also a much-needed opportunity for physical recovery after playing three games in 11 days, starting with a Week 4 game in Detroit on Monday night.

It was, as safety Julian Love described it, "a beast" of a stretch, making it hard for the Seahawks not only to recover between games, but also to get in the level of work the team would like during the practice week.

Following a weekend off, and an honest meeting on Monday that dove into the issues that have hurt the team, players feel good about where the team is at despite the recent losses.

"I'm so excited for this week and just the way that we're approaching this week, all the guys are locked in," quarterback Geno Smith said. "We had some really tough meetings. Coach Mike Macdonald was extremely honest with us, and it allowed all of us to be vulnerable, to express what we're feeling and where we can be better. That was something that really helped us this week."

Said receiver DK Metcalf, "Monday was a very much needed team meeting where Mike just told us the truth of, it's not anything the other teams are doing. We're just hurting ourselves, penalties, giving the ball away, not getting the ball on defense. So he just basically told us the truth of what we need to clean up moving forward. We all took it the right way, and we're ready to finish the season."

A big takeaway from Monday, as Love explained it, is that despite the recent losses, the Seahawks feel like they're very close to turning things around.

"It's really just guys being tight on the details of their job," Love said. "And that's good. Mike addressed that also, it was like, 'Listen, this is what we're doing well. We're doing some things very well across the league, and these are some things we're not doing well. That's how we're 3-3, that's why we're exactly in the middle.' So I think it was helpful just to know that, man, it's us against us. It's us against us, we just have to do our stuff well."

2. Does the run defense get back on track against a tough Falcons rushing attack?

Through their first five games, the Falcons were held under 90 rushing yards four times, and were getting the job done on offense largely by leaning on Kirk Cousins and the passing game, particularly in a Week 5 win over the Buccaneers. Last week, however, the Falcons rode a strong rushing attack to a win over Carolina, with Tyler Allgeier and Bijan Robinson combining for 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

And while the Falcons have enough balance to come out throwing the ball or running it, it stands to reason that they will make a concerted effort to test Seattle's run defense, because after allowing 228 rushing yards last week, the Seahawks have now allowed 175 or more rushing yards to three of their last five opponents. The Seahawks defense feels like the extra time this week will lead to improvement against the run, and they'll need those improvements to show up against the likes of Robinson and Allgeier.

"They're two really good backs," Macdonald said. "Both have been running this scheme for multiple years, going back to when they were running a similar scheme there last year, the same offensive line coach. Both see it really well, both run it a little bit differently, one with a little bit more power. I think Robinson is more of a one-cut guy, but the complement of the scheme goes well hand-in-hand and it's a tough play to stop and it's not one of those things where it's just one guy, it's all 11 guys on it. We always say it in the run defense, but all 11 guys in order to stop wide zone."

3. Can the offense get out of its own way and in turn get off to a better start?

For stretches within games, the Seahawks offense has looked great this season, with Geno Smith and company marching up and down the field, making plays in the passing game, and with Kenneth Walker III making big plays in the run game.

Too often, however, the offense has also had to endure some quiet stretches, and more often than not, the culprit has not been a dominant opponent, but rather a plethora of mistakes, mainly penalties and turnovers. Last week, for example, the Seahawks opened the game by quickly driving to the 49ers 25-yard line, but that drive abruptly ended with an interception.

In the second quarter, down 13-0 in part due to that turnover, which the 49ers turned into a touchdown, a Seahawks drive was undone by a holding penalty, and after another punt, the 49ers extended their lead to 16-0.

"It is the same struggles we've had the last three games, self-imposed problems, so the penalties, the turnovers are the keys," offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said. "When we're clean, you look at the second half, we had five drives. First drive, 94 yards. We're clean, good balance, run, pass, no penalties, no sacks. It's going to be a good drive. So I'm stating the obvious, but right now the two things we have to work the most on is clean drives discipline, no penalties, and no negative yardage. Right now we're 29th or something like that in the NFL in offensive penalties. That's just reality. It's not something you want to brag about and talk about, but that's what we have to clean up. And the last two days in practice, we've been very clean, with no procedural penalty. I feel a lot better about that. And then obviously turning the football over at critical times, we got to take care of the ball."

There's plenty of talent on Seattle's offense to get the job done on Sunday or on any other gameday, but until the turnovers and penalties are greatly reduced, it will be hard for that unit to be at anything close to its best.

"Turnovers, penalties, playing behind the chains, those are the things that are hurting us," Smith said. "When we don't shoot ourselves in the foot, we're a really good offense, we're a really good team. But, when we make it easy on the defense, when we make it easy on the opposing team by giving them turnovers, extra possessions, putting ourselves behind the sticks, allowing them to pass rush and kind of tee off on our o-line at times, it just puts us in a tough situation. We've been able to climb out of those situations, but you don't want to be in that too often."

4. Who steps up for a beat-up Seahawks secondary?

The Seahawks played last week's game without starting cornerback Riq Woolen, who was out with an ankle injury, and they saw two more cornerbacks, Tre Brown (ankle) and Artie Burns (toe), leave the game with injuries. The status of Woolen and Brown is still up in the air, though neither practiced Wednesday or Thursday, while Burns is now on injured reserve, and as if all of that wasn't enough, starting safety Rayshawn Jenkins was placed on injured reserve this week with a hand injury.

So all of those injuries bring up the questions of what Seattle's secondary will look like when the defense takes the field for the first time on Sunday. If Brown and Woolen are able to make it back, that makes things pretty clear at cornerback, with Devon Witherspoon and those two handling things. If one or both isn't available, the Seahawks will have to adjust. The only other cornerbacks on Seattle's 53-man roster are rookies Nehemiah Pritchett, who played in relief of Woolen late in the Week 5 loss to the Giants, and Dee Williams, who made the team as an undrafted free agent largely because of his return abilities. The Seahawks also have three cornerbacks on the practice squad, Josh Jobe, Faion Hicks, and Eric Garroro, who was signed earlier this week.

Another possibility is Coby Bryant, who is listed as a safety, but who was Seattle's nickel corner as a rookie in 2022. Moving Bryant back to the nickel role could cause other depth issues, however, because with Jenkins out, Bryant could well be called upon to help out there. K'Von Wallace, who has been part of the defense in three safety-sets, would seem a likely candidate to take on a bigger role alongside starter Julian Love, but if the Seahawks still want to use three-safety looks, that would likely fall on Bryant, with another option being Ty Okada, who was signed off the practice squad earlier this week.

"I think as we go through it, it will be a bunch of guys because we play different groupings of people," defensive coordinator Aden Durde said of replacing Jenkins "It's a bunch of guys, and as we rotate through that, that's the way we'll see it."

5. What does Byron Murphy II's return and the addition of Roy Robertson-Harris do for the defensive line?

Even as teams have been able to run the ball on the Seahawks in recent weeks, Macdonald has pointed out that the defensive line has been doing a good job, and that group, led by Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed and Johnthan Hankins, is getting a boost this week. First, rookie Byron Murphy II, who missed the past three games with a hamstring injury, is expected back, a “huge” addition to the defense, as Durde described it. The Seahawks also bolstered that group this week by adding veteran defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris in a trade with Jacksonville.

The addition of Robertson-Harris and the return of Murphy not only benefits the defense because of what their skill sets can bring when they're on the field, but also because with more depth on the line, everyone should play better.

"I think as we're a rotational D-line, taking reps off of other guys as well and giving quality reps to the game is huge," Durde said of Murphy's return. "For us, it's been hard not to have him."

Robertson-Harris, who Macdonald described as big, tough and rugged, brings with him not just a lot of experience, but the versatility to play several spots along the line.

"He has the ability to play the three (technique) spot, the four, the four-I, the five, and the six," Durde said, explaining in alignment terms how Robertson-Harris could play anywhere from inside at defensive tackle, lined up across from a guard, to outside at defensive end, lined up across from a tight end. "He definitely has the ability to play big end and three-technique."