Matchups, players and storylines to watch when the Seahawks host the Texans on Monday night.

The Seahawks host the Houston Texans on Monday night in a prime-time showdown that features two of the league's top defenses. The Seahawks sit at 4-2 after a road win in Jacksonville in Week 6, while the Texans are 2-3, having won two straight after an 0-3 start leading into their bye.

With Seahawks looking to earn a victory heading into their bye week, here are four things to watch in Monday's night's game at Lumen Field:

1. Will Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba continue their explosive ways against cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and one of the league's top defenses?

The Seahawks come into Week 7 with one of the NFL's most explosive passing attacks, with quarterback Sam Darnold leading the NFL in both yards per attempt (9.6) and yards per completion (13.5). Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Darnold's 144.3 passer rating on downfield passes (10 or more yards downfield), 69.6 completion percentage and 16.6 yards-per-completion average are not only the highest in the league this season on those downfield throws; they would be the highest since the Next Gen era began in 2016. And Darnold has done a ton of that damage when targeting Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who after last week's 162-yard performance is up to a league-leading 696 yards through six games.

Continuing that level of passing game production against Houston, however, could prove challenging. In addition to ranking first in points allowed and fourth in total defense, the Texans also rank fifth in passing defense and first in fewest passing touchdowns allowed with three.

Making things difficult on Smith-Njigba will be the fact that Houston's defense is particularly tough on receivers lined up out wide. Smith-Njigba, who has busted the "he's just a slot guy" myth this season, has 631 of his 696 receiving yards, and all three of his touchdown receptions when lined up out wide. The Texans will counter with a defense that has allowed only 450 yards to receivers lined up out wide this season, the sixth fewest in the league according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

One individual matchup that is particularly intriguing when Seattle is on offense is the battle between Smith-Njigba and Texans corner Derek Stingley Jr. The third overall pick in 2022, Stingley battled injuries early in his career, but last year he emerged as one of the game's best cornerbacks, recording five interceptions, 18 passes defensed and four tackles for loss on his way to first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections.

"He's an aggressive player, opportunistic, good ball skills, stays square, his movement ability is good, he's fast and smart," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said of Stingley. "He's a great all-around corner, does a great job."

Stingley and the rest of Houston's secondary will be trying to do what no other defense has done this season—shut down Smith-Njigba, who is leading the league in receiving through six weeks, and who has at least 76 yards and one deep reception in each game.

2. Can the Seahawks pass rush pick up where it left off?

After struggling to contain Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield two weeks ago, the Seahawks pass rush came alive in Jacksonville, recording seven sacks and 17 quarterback hits on Trevor Lawrence, season highs in both categories.

"It's really fun," defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. "It's almost like sharks seeing blood in the water. We're all hungry to get back there. We're all hungry to get a piece of the quarterback, get a sack, half sack, regardless of what it is, hit on the quarterback, pressure. It starts just firing everyone up, and it motivates people to win their one-on-ones."

While the Seahawks may have a hard time matching that level of production every week, they are confident they can again make things difficult for an opposing quarterback. C.J. Stroud, a Pro-Bowler as a rookie in 2023, currently has careers highs in completion percentage (70.8) and passer rating (102.1), but he has also been sacked multiple times in every game and 12 times total in five games, and has been hit 26 times.

If the Seahawks can build off of last week and keep the pressure on Stroud, they should be able to have a good day on defense.

3. What does a mostly-healthy Seahawks secondary look like?

With rookie Nick Emmanwori exiting the Seahawks' opener early in the game with an ankle injury, and with Devon Witherspoon hurting his knee late in that same game, the Seahawks were missing a pair of key players in their secondary in Week 2. Witherspoon has played in only one game since that injury, returning for Seattle's Thursday night win in Arizona, only to miss the next two games, while Emmanwori missed three games before making it back for the last two games. The Seahawks also have been without safety Julian Love for three of the past four games due to a hamstring injury, while cornerback Riq Woolen missed last week's game with a concussion.

That means the Seahawks have not really had their secondary fully intact all season aside from a few plays early in the opener, and they've often been without multiple starters. While game statuses have not been decided yet, the fact that Witherspoon and Love both returned to practice Thursday as limited participants, and that Woolen was able to practice fully, means the Seahawks could be getting closer to full strength at what coming into the season was projected to be one of their best position groups.

So if most, if not all, of the group consisting of Witherspoon, Woolen, Love, Emmanwori, Coby Bryant and Josh Jobe are all available this week, how will the Seahawks deploy all of those players that they essentially view as starters? If last week was any indication, the Seahawks will play a lot of big nickel with Emmanwori as the fifth defensive back, though matchups from week to week could dictate getting another cornerback on the field instead. And if the Seahawks are frequently using three safeties, which corner is the odd man out? Or do they play more dime (six defensive backs) with a linebacker coming off, something that Seattle could feel comfortable using more frequently given Emmanwori's size and ability to play in the box like a linebacker.

"It's hard to shake him and he plays physically," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said of Emmanwori this week. "That pops up on tape. He naturally goes, he's not a timid player, he's an aggressive player, he's a decisive player, and he wants to be really good, which makes him a fun player to have on your team, and a fun guy to work with every day."

If the Seahawks suddenly find themselves, be it this week or in the near future, with more starting-caliber than they have spots on the field to use them, that's a great problem to have, and it also adds to intrigue to see just how Macdonald will deploy all of those players once the secondary is at full strength.

4. If it comes down to it, can the defense finish strong again, and do it at home this time?

The Seahawks have done a lot of things well this season on defense, but one area in which they haven't always been as good as they'd like to be is the ability to close out games. The 49ers and Buccaneers were both able to drive for what ended up being winning touchdowns late in the fourth quarter, with both games at Lumen Field, while the Cardinals were able to score two fourth-quarter touchdowns to tie the Thursday night game in Arizona before the Seahawks countered with a winning field goal drive.

Last week, however, following that loss to Tampa Bay, Seattle's defense was able to close out a win in style in Jacksonville. After the Jaguars were able to make it an eight-point game early in the fourth quarter, they got the ball back three more times with a chance to potentially tie the game, and ended up punting all three times, gaining just one first down and 22 yards on those possessions.

"That's been an emphasis for us," Macdonald said of the defense's finish. "We weren't shying away from it, and our guys were awesome. I think you could sense it on the sideline that they wanted the opportunity to go out there and play, and that's all you can ask for as a coach. It's not like—there's no secret play calls that you hide on your play sheet until the fourth quarter then all of a sudden you just start waving the magic wand. We're executing our defense and our guys did it at a high level, and that's what it's going to take. But I think the mentality was the driving force behind how we finished the game out, and that starts with our leaders on defense, our coaches—AD (defensive coordinator Aden Durde) did a tremendous job all week getting our guys ready to go. It was a fun group to be around as the fourth quarter started to unfold."

While there is no guarantee that Sunday's game comes down to the wire, the nature of the NFL suggests that there's a very good chance the Seahawks will need a key stop or two at some point late in the game, and their defense would love to show that what they did last week is their new normal. Even better, they'd like to do it at home, where the Seahawks are 1-2 this season and 4-8 in the past two years.

While Macdonald and some defensive players have noted that the noise at Lumen Field can make communication difficult at times for the home defense, they welcome that challenge, knowing it's just as big of a challenge, if not bigger, for opposing offenses. And if the Seahawks are going to get back on track at home, it won't be about finding some magic formula specific to home games, but rather finding a way to execute better throughout the game, and especially to finish things off, in a way they haven't always done of late in their home stadium.

"If we knew what exactly worked, we would do it every time, and we'd just hit the button and rinse repeat," Macdonald said. "If we knew exactly how we could win games every time at home, trust me, we would be mashing that button, as many times as we'd possibly could. But what I can tell you is, we're chasing it, we're determined to do it, and our guys are determined to do it, but I really don't believe you have to change course, take a detour. It's about if we play our best football, we're going to have success at home. We've just got to play better football when we're at home."