The Seahawks head to Pittsburgh in Week 2, looking to bounce back from a tough season-opening loss to the 49ers. The Seahawks will face a Steelers team coming off a shootout win over the Jets in their opener, looking to slow a high-powered offense led by a couple of high-profile newcomers, quarterback Aaron Rodgers and, of course, receiver DK Metcalf, who was traded to Pittsburgh in March after six seasons in Seatle.

To help you get ready for this week's game at Acrisure Stadium, we reached out to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Brian Batko with five questions about this week's opponent:

Obviously one of the big storylines this week will be DK Metcalf facing the Seahawks for the first time after six seasons in Seattle, in addition to his four catches for 84 yards last week, what has he brought to the Steelers since the trade? And if he has said anything about it this week, what are his thoughts about facing his former team?

Batko: DK Metcalf has brought an adult to the room. For all of his issues with temper flaring in-game and incurring costly penalties, Metcalf has shown to be far more professional and dependable on a day-to-day basis than the likes of George Pickens, Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool or even going back further to Martavis Bryant and Antonio Brown. JuJu Smith-Schuster had his moments of immaturity here, too. Metcalf is setting the tone for a somewhat young, but even more inexperienced and unproven receiver group. As for facing his former team, he is invoking Mike Tomlin's "nameless, gray faces" mentality. While he didn't use that Tomlin-ism, he referred to it as just another game, the Seahawks are the next team on the schedule, and he actually got a bit exasperated at the line of questioning.

Speaking of newcomers to the Steelers offense, that was quite a debut for Aaron Rodgers. How does his presence and that performance shift expectations, if at all, for this season?

Batko: It certainly alleviated some concerns about a slow start to the season, with Aaron Rodgers not suiting up at all in preseason, but above all it fueled optimism that has slowly built among the fanbase since the Steelers' initial dalliance with the four-time MVP back in March. Perhaps there was a level of skepticism among the team, too, as the Rodgers saga dragged on through OTAs. Once he got here, though, he began the process of ingratiating himself to the other Steelers and going with the flow. Sort of like Metcalf for the wideouts, Rodgers is the kind of tough-love offensive leader that hasn't been seen around here since Ben Roethlisberger. Mitch Trubisky was a placeholder, Mason Rudolph a fun substitute teacher, Kenny Pickett a youngster finding his way himself and the Russell Wilson-Justin Fields duo was a little tense from the beginning. Rodgers is the unquestioned captain for an offense that probably needs his style of mentorship.

Historically the Steelers are synonymous with stingy defense, and there are a lot of big names on the current defense, but they gave up 32 points and 394 yards to the Jets in Week 1. How concerning was the showing on that side of the ball in a close victory?

Batko: It was rather concerning, given that they ended last season on a five-game skid, culminating in being trampled by the Ravens in the playoffs. They set out to fix their run defense in a big way this offseason, literally and figuratively, by adding two rookie defensive linemen (first-round pick Derrick Harmon and fifth-rounder Yahya Black). Harmon is out with a knee injury, but the loss of a rookie shouldn't have an otherwise veteran-laden group looking like a sieve in Week 1. While the secondary wasn't stellar in the early going, they did have to adjust on the fly to losing glue-guy safety DeShon Elliott in the second quarter. That said, Elliott's loss could linger for as long as he's out with a knee injury of his own.

Aside from the obvious big names, what player or players could you see being an X-factor for the Steelers in this game?

Batko: T.J. Watt is an obvious big name, but sometimes it feels as if his running mate on the edge Alex Highsmith doesn't get enough respect. All Highsmith did in the opener against left tackle Olu Fashanu was notch the Steelers' only sack of Justin Fields, register three quarterback hits and have two run stops for no gain. Also in the outside linebacker department, ball-of-fire pass-rusher Nick Herbig is expected to make his season debut after missing the Jets game with a hamstring injury. Herbig is undersized but can get to the quarterback from either side. He's especially productive when he subs in for Highsmith on the right, and Seahawks fans might recall his strip-sack of Geno Smith late in his rookie year that turned that game in Seattle.

What matchup(s) are you most looking forward to seeing play out on Sunday in Sunday's game?

Batko: It has to be DK Metcalf against an ornery Seattle secondary, right? There's the built-in payback factor on both sides, the individual matchups such as Devon Witherspoon or Riq Woolen, and it's also Metcalf's Pittsburgh debut as a Steeler at Acrisure Stadium. There's probably not a close second, but after that, I'll be curious to see how the Steelers deploy Jalen Ramsey. He could follow Jaxon Smith-Njigba, jostle with his former Rams teammate Cooper Kupp or pop up wherever the Steelers see fit. Outside cornerback Joey Porter Jr. is dealing with a hamstring injury and a starting safety is out, so the plan for ultimate-chess-piece Ramsey might be in flux.