The Seattle Seahawks’ Dark Side Defense is no stranger to tormenting young quarterbacks. Last season, the Seahawks gave Houston’s C.J. Stroud, Minnesota’s Max Brosmer and New England’s Drake Maye games to forget. This season, the Dark Side Defense has already given Maye, Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes II a game to forget.

​The Seahawks will go on the road to take on the Las Vegas Raiders, who will be starting the 2026 NFL Draft’s first overall pick in quarterback Fernando Mendoza for the first time in his career. This comes after the Raiders traded veteran starting quarterback Kirk Cousins to the Minnesota Vikings. The Dark Side Defense has the potential to give Mendoza a rough first start in his career.

​Seahawks Can Take Away Mendoza’s Short-Range Targets

​The Raiders come into Week 10 with the second-most productive passing offense and the fifth-most productive scoring offense. There are several key reasons for this impressive run, including the offensive philosophy from head coach and former Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and Cousins’ stellar play. The Raiders’ offense has now to adjust to a dramatic quarterback switch from Cousins to Mendoza.

​Mendoza will likely rely on his tight ends Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer to quickly get the ball off for his first start. Bowers and Mayer have combined for nearly 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns this season. The Seahawks have been more efficient in the last few games at suppressing tight ends. Seattle held Cardinals tight end Trey McBride to one of his least productive performances this season.

​Second-year nickelback Nick Emmanwori has become a much more efficient dynamic defender. One of his biggest weaknesses last season was covering tight ends, but he showed he has become reliable at covering every type of pass-catcher. Emmanwori can show the league how to cover Bowers and suppress Mendoza.

​Dark Side Defense Can Dominate Mendoza

​The Seahawks can limit Mendoza by taking away his best targets, but their main objective should be to pressure him constantly. Seattle possesses the league’s top-ranked total defense and passing defense. This is largely due to the elite secondary and solid contributors throughout the rest of the defense.

​The Seahawks rank 13th in sacks accounted for (23), but fourth in quarterback knockdowns (13.7%) and fifth in quarterback pressures (27%). While the Seahawks don’t have the edge rushers to consistently create sacks, they have defenders on the defensive line and blitzing linebackers/secondaries to constantly hit the quarterback in the backfield. Seattle possesses the players to wear down Mendoza, despite his solid size.

​Seattle could be without defensive tackle Leonard Williams (stinger) in Week 10.  Edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu (ankle) could be back after being limited in Wednesday’s practice, but another edge rusher Derick Hall (back) is on the injury list and could be limited or miss Sunday’s game,