Seahawks face Super Bowl offensive staff now coaching the Raiders in Las Vegas

The coaches who ran the Seahawks' offense during last season's Super Bowl run will be on the other sideline Sunday. Seattle goes to Allegiant Stadium to face a Las Vegas staff led by Klint Kubiak, who called plays in the February win over New England and was named Raiders head coach the next day. Kubiak brought two Seattle assistants with him: Andrew Janocko, Sam Darnold's quarterbacks coach, who is now the Raiders' offensive coordinator, and Rick Dennison, who ran Seattle's run game and now coaches the Las Vegas offensive line.

The New York Post reports the reunion has not made anyone sentimental. Janocko said the Super Bowl ring stays in a safe deposit box most of the time. When asked about this matchup, he said, "It's a big one because it's the next one." Kubiak spent the early part of the week on a 38-17 loss to San Francisco in which the Raiders turned the ball over five times. He credited general manager John Schneider and coach Mike Macdonald with building what he called an all-football organization, and said he wants to bring that approach to Las Vegas.

The Raiders also have a new quarterback. No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza will make his first NFL start after Kirk Cousins was traded to Minnesota, according to FOX5 Vegas. The station describes the defense he will face as the best in the league. Seattle will be short at quarterback too. FOX 13 Seattle reports that Darnold is out again with quadriceps and rib injuries. Drew Lock is in line for his second straight start while he manages an oblique injury, and Jalen Milroe is next up if Lock cannot go.

That sets up an unusual matchup. The Raiders' offensive staff spent last season working with Seattle's players and coaches every day. It will now try to get a rookie through his first start against a defense those coaches know well. Seattle, meanwhile, will rely on a backup quarterback against coaches who know its system.

What it means for Sunday

The Seahawks are 5-4. They have alternated wins and losses for the last six weeks, and their most recent game was a 17-3 home win over Arizona. That was the second time in three weeks the defense held an opponent to a field goal, after a 20-3 win over Kansas City. Seattle has scored 202 points and allowed 162 over nine games. Most of the damage has come in shootouts: the losses to Washington and San Francisco were by a combined five points, and Chicago beat Seattle 34-17. The Seahawks are 4-2 at home but 1-2 on the road, with losses at Denver and Washington.

The venues still have Seattle clearly ahead despite the quarterback situation. On this site's board, which tracks 12 venues, Seattle is favored at -264 on the Novig moneyline, and Las Vegas is +257. The spread is Seattle -6.5 at -104 on Novig, with the Raiders at +6.5 priced at even money. The total is 40.5, which fits a game between two backup-level quarterback situations and a Seattle defense that has allowed 6 points across its last two wins. The sportsbooks are close together, with hold ranging from 3.5% to 5.0% on the moneyline and from 2.9% to 5.0% on the spread.

The game kicks off Sunday on CBS. After that, Seattle has its bye week and then plays a rematch at San Francisco.