The 3-1 Seattle Seahawks got a perfectly timed bye week in Week 5. The team had been dealing with a slew of injuries including players such as Jamal Adams, Charles Cross, Damien Lewis, etc. Key starters are coming back this Sunday thanks to the break, and couldn't have happened at a better time as the Seahawks take on an AFC powerhouse, the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bengals have been one of the league's premier teams ever since the duo of Ja'Marr Chase and Joe Burrow came into the league. In the pair's first year together, they won the AFC title game before falling short in the Super Bowl against division rival, the Los Angeles Rams. The year after they would reach their 2nd straight AFC title game but would lose to the MVP Patrick Mahomes and eventual Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs.
This year hasn't been as successful for the Bengals though, as they've gotten off to a 2-3 start. Joe Burrow has been dealing with a calf injury he got in training camp and just hadn't looked like the QB from the past two seasons.
Three biggest priorities for the Seattle Seahawks versus Cincinnati Bengals
That was until last week though, when the Bengals would travel to Arizona to play the Cardinals. Chase and Burrow would have an offensive explosion, reminding the NFL world just who they are. Burrow would throw for 317 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Chase would have one of the best games of his career, tallying up 15 catches, and 192 receiving yards, and would have all 3 of Burrow's touchdown passes.
The Bengals are coming off of a huge win, but so are the Seahawks. Seattle had one of their better defensive performances in team history against the Giants. Not only that, but they've won three straight games one of them coming against another team that's playing really well currently, the 4-1 Detroit Lions.
This is a huge game for the Seahawks, as it's an opportunity to see where they rank amongst the NFL's elite. We know they're a likely playoff team and can probably get out of the wild card round, but can they compete with the likes of the Eagles, Chiefs, and 49ers? We get one step closer to finding out after this week's contest.