The Seattle Seahawks are coming off a disappointing loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

However, at 8-6, the Seahawks still control their path to the postseason.

Seattle can clinch a playoff spot by beating one of the league’s best teams in Week 16.

Russell Wilson and company will host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football on TSN.

In order to have a shot against Kansas City, the Seahawks will need to clean up three key issues that plagued them in last week’s loss.

The biggest issues were on defence.

Forty-niners quarterback Nick Mullens went 20-of-29 for 275 yards with a touchdown in last week’s 26-23 overtime win over Seattle.

He went 10-for-10 for 160 yards and a score on play-action passes.

San Francisco was able to keep the Seahawks defence off balance with the run game and that opened things up for Mullens to attack over the top.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was named the top NFL quarterback of 2018 by The Associated Press on Friday, owns a league-best 118.0 passer rating on play-action passes this season.

Considering how effective Mahomes has been running the play-action, Seattle will be in big trouble if its defence doesn’t do a better job in that department.

The Seahawks will also need to be more disciplined against Kansas City. Seattle finished with 14 accepted penalties for 148 total yards against the 49ers, which marked a franchise record for most penalty yards in a single game.

The Chiefs lead the NFL with 35.6 points per game and 427.3 yards per game this season.

The Seahawks can’t afford to give them any free yards.

Seattle will need a performance from Wilson that rivals some of the best he’s produced in prime time over the years.

Wilson is 13-2 in home prime time games since entering the league in 2012.

The Seahawks quarterback has thrown a league-high 15 touchdowns on passes that have travelled at least 15 yards downfield this season. His 15-to-1 TD/INT ratio on such throws is the second-best mark amongst all quarterbacks over the last 10 seasons.

Seattle won’t have a chance in this game if its defence doesn’t play better than it did against the 49ers.

However, even with a better defensive effort, the Seahawks need Wilson to deliver one of his best performances of the year if they are going to upset the Chiefs.

On the other side of the football, Kansas City is coming off just its third loss of the season.

It’s impossible blame a Chiefs’ offence that has averaged 39.7 points per game in three defeats.

Still, Mahomes and company can certainly be better than they were in last week’s loss to the Chargers.

Mahomes was held to a career-low 243 passing yards against L.A.

The Chargers did an excellent job containing Mahomes and forcing him to make throws from the pocket. Mahomes only had one pass attempt from outside of the pocket over the final three quarters.

Kansas City owns one of the league’s worst defences, so it will once again be on Mahomes to carry the load.

The Chiefs have already clinched a playoff spot. They can clinch the AFC West and a first-round bye with a win and a Chargers loss.

With playoff implications for both teams, this Sunday Night Football matchup should live up to its prime time billing.