5 Burning Questions: What to Watch as Seahawks, Cowboys Duel in Week 3

Led by two quarterbacks at the top of their game against struggling defenses, the Seahawks and Cowboys look poised to put on a high-scoring show in an appetizing Week 3 matchup at CenturyLink Field.

Following thrilling victories last weekend, the Seahawks and Cowboys will square off for the first time since the 2018 season in a potential early playoff preview pitting two of the NFL's most explosive offenses against one another.

As I will do each and every game this season, let's tackle five key questions heading into Sunday's enticing Week 3 matchup at CenturyLink Field.

1. Can Seattle take full advantage of a banged-up Cowboys secondary?

Through two games, Russell Wilson has been flat-out on fire, throwing nine touchdowns and completing north of 80 percent of his passes. He's also been sharing the wealth, completing passes to 10 different receivers and throwing touchdowns to six different players. As the star quarterback prepares to enter the kitchen once again, he should be licking his lips seeing the matchups on the outside for receivers Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. Dallas placed starting cornerback Chidobe Awuzie on injured reserve on Saturday, leaving rookie Trevon Diggs and a cast of reserves to try to slow down the two star receivers. Even with Awuzie, the Cowboys allowed four touchdown passes to Matt Ryan last week, so Wilson and the Seahawks should have no problem exploiting a struggling, inferior secondary early and often in what will be a high-scoring affair.

2. Will the Seahawks be able to protect Wilson well enough to work his magic?

Maybe the biggest surprise so far for Seattle offensively has been the effectiveness of the offensive line, specifically in pass protection. While Wilson has been sacked five times and taken quite a few hits, a revamped line with three new starters has done a superb job keeping him upright for the most part and has drawn praise from coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

To this point, Dallas hasn't found much success harassing opposing quarterbacks with just a pair of sacks in two games, but the defensive line offers plenty of big-name talent, including Demarcus Lawrence, Everson Griffen, and Aldon Smith, who has revived his career after sitting out five seasons. At any time, that trio could break out, and if that happens on Sunday, it could negate the obvious advantages the Seahawks have at the skill positions and make it more difficult to air it out.

3. Speaking of rushing the passer, who can Seattle count on to try and pressure Dak Prescott?

While the Cowboys have had their own issues generating a pass rush, the Seahawks haven't been much better statistically. In fact, their defensive line has registered just one sack during the first two weeks and the player who recorded that sack, Benson Mayowa, will be a game-time decision on Sunday as he nurses a groin injury. If not for Jamal Adams' heroics as a blitzer, Seattle wouldn't have had any semblance of a pass rush the past two weeks.

Somehow, the team may struggle even more this week after losing Bruce Irvin and Rasheem Green to injured reserve. They will be counting on the likes of rookie Alton Robinson, D'Andre Walker, and Shaquem Griffin to contribute off the edge and none of those three players have been active yet this season. The Seahawks need at least one of those three to make something happen - facing a Cowboys team that could be missing both of their starting tackles, it's not impossible - or this will be a very long afternoon watching Dak Prescott carve up their defense.

4. Will this be the week where Seattle's secondary takes a big step forward?

From a talent perspective, the Seahawks should have one of the best secondaries in the entire NFL after trading for Adams and cornerback Quinton Dunbar. But in the first two weeks, the team has surrendered 831 passing yards, the second-most through the first two games of a season in NFL history. They also lost nickel cornerback Marquise Blair to a season-ending torn ACL and now Dunbar won't play this weekend with a knee injury. That's... not good, especially with the Cowboys boasting a dynamic trio of receivers in Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and first-round pick CeeDee Lamb, who is dangerous out of the slot.

After giving up almost 400 passing yards to Cam Newton and an underwhelming Patriots receiving corps this week, Adams, Shaquill Griffin, and company must play a much cleaner game to give their team a shot at winning, which will obviously be tougher without Dunbar and Tre Flowers replacing him. Thankfully, free safety Quandre Diggs will be back in action after sitting out the last three quarters of last week's win following an ejection for a helmet-to-helmet hit, which will bring much-needed stability to the back half of Seattle's defense. If there's a week where it would be nice for this group to come together and show growth, this one would take the cake.

5. Where will Jordyn Brooks play? And what are reasonable expectations in his first start?

After refusing to name a replacement for Irvin earlier in the week, Carroll announced on Wednesday that Brooks would make his first career NFL start, but he didn't disclose what position he would be playing. Throughout training camp, the first-round pick out of Texas Tech primarily played weakside linebacker, where K.J. Wright has been starting for the past 10 seasons. The Seahawks could easily slide Wright to strongside linebacker, allowing the rookie to play where he's most comfortable. However, Brooks offers far more athleticism, which could make his presence working off the edge enticing, especially given the team's pass rushing struggles.

As Carroll noted, the youngster will make his share of mistakes and the Cowboys likely have him circled as a player to attack in coverage, particularly with their RPOs and play action passing game. It's not an ideal matchup facing Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott for a first start, but he has enough talent to make some splashy plays right off the bat to help his team slow down Dallas' dangerous offense. With Dunbar sidelined and Ugo Amadi replacing Blair in the slot, expect a bit more base defense, which means more Brooks in his starting debut.