RENTON, Wash. -- The Seattle Seahawks (7-4) begin a difficult closing stretch by hosting the Philadelphia Eagles (10-1), winners of nine straight games and the NFC’s best team over the first 12 weeks of the season.

Here’s a closer look at Sunday night’s game from Seattle’s perspective, starting with one of the key matchups:

Seahawks’ O-line vs. Eagles’ front seven

The Seahawks finally have their desired offensive line in place. They're about to find out how good it is.

Last week's game marked the first time that Seattle had left tackle Duane Brown and left guard Luke Joeckel playing together at the same time. The Seahawks acquired Brown in an October trade with Houston while Joeckel was recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery. Joeckel's return last week after missing five games pushed his fill-in, rookie Ethan Pocic, to right guard. Pocic replaced Oday Aboushi in a move that may have happened even if Aboushi hadn't injured his shoulder.

Brown, Joeckel and Pocic joined center Justin Britt and right tackle Germain Ifedi to make up Seattle's fifth -- and ideally last -- starting combination of the season.

Russell Wilson wasn't sacked against San Francisco, marking only the fifth time in his career that's happened and the first time since 2015. It was by no means a perfect performance. As coach Pete Carroll noted, it took Wilson's Houdini act to escape a few would-be sacks, and Seattle still didn't run the ball effectively against the league's worst run defense. But there was enough to leave Seattle encouraged by what it might have in its offensive line.

That group will be challenged by an excellent Philadelphia front seven. The Eagles have generated pressure on 27.3 percent of opposing quarterbacks' dropbacks, according to ESPN charting. That only ranks 17th, but Philadelphia has several good players up front that have to be accounted for, including five defensive linemen who have at least three sacks.

The Eagles have allowed the fewest rushing yards per game this season (65.1) and the fourth-fewest per attempt (3.5). With Seattle wanting to keep Carson Wentz and the league's highest-scoring offense off the field as much as possible Sunday night, this would be a good time for the Seahawks to rediscover the running game that's been missing for a while.

By the numbers

78 percent. That's what Seattle's playoff chances would look like with a win Sunday night, according to ESPN's Football Power Index. FPI currently gives the Seahawks a 60 percent chance at making the playoffs. That would drop all the way down to 44 percent with a loss, making it the biggest potential swing of any team's FPI playoff chances this week.

11-0. No quarterback has been blitzed more this season than Wentz, who's faced an extra rusher on 39 percent of his dropbacks, according to ESPN charting. No quarterback has been better in that situation than him, at least in terms of touchdowns and interceptions. He's thrown a league-leading 11 TDs and no picks against the blitz. Those figures surely have been and will be on defensive coordinator Kris Richard's mind as he decides how and how not to call Sunday night's game.

4. Touchdowns that Philadelphia has allowed to opposing tight ends this season. Jimmy Graham has been on a touchdown binge of late, scoring eight over the last seven games -- all on plays in the red zone. Improved chemistry with Wilson in that part of the field has been one factor. It's also been simply a matter of more opportunities. Seattle has targeted Graham 18 times in the red zone over the past seven games compared to only four times over the first four games. Against tight ends, Philadelphia ranks 15th this season in DVOA (Defense-adjusted Over Average).

Interesting stat of the week: Since 2012, the Seahawks are 3-0 in the regular season against teams with 10 or more wins, according to ESPN Stats & Information. They've won those games by at least 29 points. The victories were over the 13-3-1 49ers in 2012 (29 points), the 11-3 Cardinals in 2014 (29 points) and the 13-2 Cardinals in 2015 (30 points).

Personnel notes: Cornerback Shaquill Griffin (concussion) and running back Mike Davis (groin) will return after missing the 49ers game. Carroll said Griffin will resume his starting role on the right side, which Byron Maxwell has been handling in his absence. That doesn't necessarily mean Maxwell will go back to the bench. He's looked better over the last two games than Jeremy Lane has, so it wouldn't be entirely surprising if Maxwell moves over to left cornerback with Griffin resuming his starting role on the right side. Carroll wouldn't reveal where Davis will fit into the backfield rotation Sunday night. The guess here is that Eddie Lacy will start again, but only because Seattle doesn't want to overwork Davis in his first game back. Here's a more detailed look at the Seahawks' injury situation heading into this game.