The Seahawks are trying to get legendary home-field advantage back for the 12s

SEATTLE -- The auditorium astatine Seattle Seahawks office underwent a mini makeover this past offseason. Each partition connected either broadside of the seats is present covered successful a blown-up photograph of the stands astatine Lumen Field, giving players the consciousness during squad meetings that they're successful the mediate of the stadium.

It was a fitting alteration of decor for an enactment that is trying to alteration its caller fortunes astatine home, and arsenic legendary cornerback Richard Sherman stood astatine the beforehand of the remodeled country during grooming camp, helium spoke to his erstwhile squad with that extremity successful mind.

Sherman was determination to supply position from his clip successful Seattle (2011-17) during the astir palmy agelong successful franchise history, erstwhile the Seahawks inactive owned 1 of the NFL's champion home-field advantages. It has waned drastically successful caller years, and the sojourn from 1 of their all-time large players was portion of an organization-wide effort to get it back.

The Sherman-era Seahawks, peculiarly their Legion of Boom defense, would provender disconnected the vigor from the raucous location assemblage astatine the team's 69,000-seat stadium -- and the 12s would provender disconnected them.

But Sherman's connection connected this mid-August time was that the players had to get the fans going, not the different mode around.

"Make immoderate large plays, get the assemblage involved," said antiaircraft tackle Jarran Reed, a erstwhile teammate of Sherman's during the aboriginal years of the Seahawks' antiaircraft heyday of the early- and mid-2010s. "Use our home-field vantage to our advantage."

"They're not conscionable going to travel present and beryllium cheering their butts off. You've got to gain it," wide manager John Schneider said connected his Seattle Sports 710-AM vigor show, relaying Sherman's words earlier the Seahawks' play opener against the visiting San Francisco 49ers connected Sept. 7.

Schneider past mentioned how, during the play item video shown to players the nighttime earlier each game, manager Mike Macdonald chose clips for that Saturday's gathering from immoderate of the much memorable Seahawks wins astatine Lumen Field. It was meant to thrust location the constituent astir however important it is to marque their stadium a nightmare for opposing teams.

As Schneider was talking, helium noticed a horde of 49ers fans filing into the stands an hr earlier kickoff.

"We're hoping -- arsenic we look implicit present and spot these San Fran reddish jerseys, we've got to support them retired of here," Schneider lamented. "We're bushed of it."

Those 49ers fans -- astir 7,000 were successful attendance, by the Seahawks' estimation -- near the stadium celebrating their team's 17-13 win.

And truthful continued a confounding trend.

The Seahawks (4-2) caput into their Monday nighttime crippled against the Houston Texans (2-3) astatine Lumen Field (10:15 p.m. ET, ESPN) with a 4-8 grounds astatine location since they hired Macdonald past season, which includes a blowout triumph implicit the New Orleans Saints connected Sept. 21 and a constrictive nonaccomplishment to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers connected Oct. 5.

An contented that began during Pete Carroll's last 3 seasons arsenic manager has worsened nether his successor, a hard world to quadrate with the information that Macdonald's Seahawks person been astir unbeatable distant from home. Their triumph past week implicit the Jaguars successful Jacksonville pushed their roadworthy grounds to an NFL-best 10-1 since the commencement of the 2024 season.

The disparity raises questions: Ha...