The Seahawks (4-4) are back at home this weekend, looking to bounce from a tough Week 8 loss, while the Rams (3-4) come to Seattle with a bit of momentum having won two straight following a 1-4 start to the season.

Some ups and downs were probably inevitable for the Seahawks following a coaching change, but that doesn't mean players or coaches are happy about where the team is at having lost three of four following a 3-0 start to the season.

"Our guys are not satisfied with where we're at, and not pleased with the results that are on the field," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. "It's going to take everybody to do their part and make it come together and make it come to life. We're never going to be finding silver linings in losing and anything like that. We're in the winning production business. If we're not getting that done, then we're not doing our jobs."

With the Rams coming to town for an NFC West showdown, here are four things to watch in Sunday's game at Lumen Field:

1. Can the Seahawks get back on track at home?

Sunday's loss to the Bills was not only Seattle's fourth loss in five games overall, it was also a third straight loss at Lumen Field. Once seen as nearly unbeatable at home, the Seahawks have a 15-15 record at Lumen Field dating back to the start of the 2021 season, including a 2-3 home record this year. That matches a league-wide trend in which road teams have been winning at an increasing rate, but it's not a trend the Seahawks are happy to see happening in their building. So starting with this weekend's game, the Seahawks are looking to make sure opposing fans aren't getting a chance to celebrate in their building.

"We want to bring that passion, that energy, and we want to start fast and start early," quarterback Geno Smith said. "When I think about previous Seattle teams and the connectedness with the fans—that's why we call them the 12s and that's why our mantra is '12 as one'—we all want to contribute to the winning out there. It's been that way since I've gotten here, and it'll continue to be that way because of how passionate these fans are. But, we've got to continue to get them riled up and have them excited and feeling rowdy. Wanting them to yell and just lose their voice out there when we're out there because we're doing so well. That's something, like I said, we can be better at home, and I take that personally. I want to make sure that we go out there and give our fans something to be very excited about, and we've got the right team to do it."

2. Can Seattle's secondary keep Matthew Stafford and his top receivers, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, from doing too much damage?

Ever since he arrived in a 2021 trade, veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford has helped elevate Sean McVay's offense in L.A., and the 36-year-old is still getting the job done at a high level in his 16^th season.

"He's tough as crap, I know that," Macdonald said. "This guy, he's as tough as they come, the arm talent from all the angles and stuff. I mean everybody sees kind of the wow throws, but there's a lot of them. So we respect him on that and just the savviness and control of their system, what they're asking him to do on a down-in-down-out basis I think is pretty cool. So, he's a heck of a player."

And unfortunately for the Seahawks defense, Stafford will have his top weapons available, with Pro-Bowl receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp returning from injury last week. Not surprisingly, the return of that duo gave the Rams a boost last week, with Stafford and company producing a season-high 30 points while throwing four touchdown passes after throwing for three scores in his first six games.

"Huge," defensive coordinator Aden Durde said of the impact those two receivers can have on the offense. "Obviously, you're talking about two elite players in the NFL. Guys that understand how to manipulate coverage, understand leverage, understand how really detailed route running and separation at the top of breaks. I think it's huge for them because when you play like that and you're playing with someone, you get large amounts of reps with the quarterback, you can play the game at a very high level and you see as they've got those guys back, their ability is there to do that."

3. Can the defense win on early downs and create more pass-rush opportunities?

The Seahawks have struggled to stop the run this season, giving up 155 or more yards on the ground in five of eight games while opponents average 4.9 yards per carry, the fifth-highest opponent average in the league. And those rushing yards not only have the obvious effect of helping teams move the ball against Seattle, they also have kept the Seahawks from fully deploying a pass rush that, at times, has looked like a strength of the team. When teams don't regularly face third-and-long or third-and-medium situations, it becomes considerably harder for a defense to dial up pressure and to get the takeaways that so often are the result of affecting the quarterback with a rush.

"That's the most important thing," defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. "I've been trying to talk to AD (Durde) about that and trying to talk to the rest of the pass rushers on the team about that. We always talk about earning the right to rush the passer, and that's really what it is. It's like you have to earn that right. If we're not stopping the run and if we're not putting them in situations where we can rush the passer, it's hard to get to the quarterback. I think we showed it early in the season. We had a high-pressure rating team and things like that because we were putting ourselves in situations. But the last few weeks that they've been allowed to run the ball, it's been harder for us to get to the quarterback."

4. Can the offense start faster and stay out of its own way.

The Seahawks offense has looked outstanding at times this season, but has struggled to sustain drives at other times, including, in a few cases, early in games. Last week, for example, the Seahawks went three-and-out on their first two possessions before starting to click, not a disaster by any means, but a start that allowed the Bills to jump out to an early lead.

Then when the Seahawks did start to move the ball, another reoccurring issue showed up, which was the offense's inability to get out of its own way. In some games, it has been penalties or negative plays on first down that has hindered the offense, while in other games it has been turnovers. Last week, the Seahawks again dealt with some of those issues, but also had a couple of disastrous plays in the red zone, a high snap over Geno Smith's head for a big loss, and a fourth-and-goal play on which Smith was tripped by one of his linemen after taking the snap.

There is a ton of talent on Seattle's offense, and Smith has been playing at a high level all year, but for the Seahawks to be at their best, that unit needs to clean up some of the self-inflicted wounds.

"I think if we capitalize down there in the red zone, especially early in the game, and get those points, it creates a different situation for our team, it feels a lot different," Smith said. "But obviously when you don't, and those are things that are in our control, when you don't do that, it puts a bad taste in your mouth. And so for us as an offense, each individual, especially as a team, we're all looking inward and saying, what can we do better? And obviously, if we clean up our mistakes, I've been saying this for a while, but if we clean up our mistakes and just play clean, we're more than capable of doing what we want to do."