RENTON

Oh, yes, the Seahawks noticed the Raiders trading Kirk Cousins this week.

Especially the players on the Seahawks' top-ranked defense.

In the wake of dealing the 38-year-old veteran quarterback to Minnesota, Las Vegas (4-5) is promoting Fernando Mendoza, the rookie first-overall pick in this year's NFL draft, from Cousins' backup. Mendoza will make his first pro start on Sunday (1:25 p.m., CBS TV, KIRO-7 locally).

Against the Seahawks' top-ranked defense.

"I mean, it's a bit challenging because you don't have no tape on him, so you don't really have too many tendencies, for real, or some weakness (in Mendoza)," Seattle's defensive tackle and sack leader Byron Murphy said Wednesday. "But as far as what I've seen on tape, I mean, the guy obviously (was) the number-one draft pick. He can make all the throws.

"But," Murphy said, "I feel like as a unit, as a defense -- and especially as a D-line -- we can get after this guy. Especially in the passing game....

"We can get after him, for sure."

That's the Seahawks' and defensive mastermind Mike Macdonald's plan to get Seattle to 6-4 heading into its bye next week.

At least it is now, after the Raiders trade of Cousins on Tuesday.

"It does shift our focus on how we are trying to game plan," Macdonald said Wednesday of Mendoza now starting.

Despite his Super Bowl-winning quarterback Sam Darnold missing his second consecutive game with a quadriceps injury Sunday in Las Vegas, despite Drew Lock filling in for Darnold while limited all this practice week by a new quadriceps injury on top of his elbow tendinitis, Macdonald intends to confuse Mendoza in his first NFL start. Seattle's defensive wizard typically moves around Nick Emmanwori from safety to outside linebacker to inside linebacker to defensive end, sometimes all in the same series of downs. He moves cornerback Devon Witherspoon inside and outside the Seahawks' defense that leads the NFL in fewest yards allowed. Macdonald moves Murphy, Seattle's team leader with four sacks, around the defensive line inside and outside the offensive tackles. He disguises pass rushes. He changes players' spots at and after the snap.

His credo is his Seahawks defense "holds the chalk last" just before the snap. The goal is for Seattle's D to dictate to the opposing offense, not the other way around.

On Sunday in Las Vegas, Macdonald is going to do all that and more to Mendoza and Raiders play-calling head coach Klint Kubiak, the Seahawks' champion offensive coordinator last season. Macdonald's going to show Mendoza defensive looks he never saw in college while leading Indiana to the national championship last season, nor at Cal before that, nor when he played for Las Vegas this summer against vanilla defenses with substitutes playing in preseason games.

Macdonald wasn't about to reveal his game plan for his former deputy Kubiak, Mendoza and the Raiders to learn in advance of the game.

But what Seattle's head coach did say revealed the gist of what the Seahawks intend to do.

"We’ll focus on us and making sure that we are playing our brand of ball," Macdonald said, "and try to apply as much pressure as we can on their offense.”

Kubiak knows what's coming: Blitzing and heat on his debuting, rookie quarterback. Mendoza's only NFL regular-season action so far has been eight passes in mop-up duty after Cousins played most of the Raiders' 45-17 loss at New England last month.

Kubiak doesn't exactly know who Macdonald is going to send at Mendoza, or from where.

Yet the play caller who left the Seahawks the day after he and they won Super Bowl 60 in February to become a first-time head coach with the Raiders sees Mendoza as ready for this.

"Yeah, Fernando has done everything we’ve asked him to do in practice. I think he’s exceeded those expectations," Kubiak said. "And we all know that live (action) Sunday is far different from practice. However, he showed us that he’s ready, not only physically but mentally. He’s up there studying right now like he would any other game. He puts a lot of work in. His teammates know how prepared he is.

"It’s not just lip service, but he has shown it on the practice field.”

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