Have Teams Found Ways to Counter the Noise at The CLINK?

Last year all you hear was how loud our place was and how teams were having to wear ear plugs and even with those they still struggle getting a play out. This year it doesn't seem like teams are struggling against the noise. I'm wondering if they found a way to counter the noise. Anyone else notice it?

May be a lot of different factors, but the one thing that comes instantly to mind is that teams probably expect it a whole lot more, and don't take it as unseriously as before. Used to be we'd hear teams scoff at the noise level, saying they'd been to loud stadiums before and that it wasn't a big deal. Now that many have recanted their earlier words and opinions, other teams and players are not so flippant as to disregard it. When one is prepared for something, it mitigates the effects.

There are a lot of silent counts being done at the CLink, more so than before. Watch the left guard of these teams. They tap the centers hip just before the snap. I'm sure most teams Practice that Alot leading up to games in Seattle. If you watched the AZ game in AZ, the Cardinals had to do the same thing at HOME!!! Because Hawks fans were so loud there

Definitely agree with the above posts. Teams know about and respect the crowd now. I don't think I've heard any visiting players dismiss the crowd the week before a game like they did in the past.

Opponent's false start penalties at the Clink certainly has plummeted to a fraction of what it was a couple seasons ago.

Diezel Dawg":3nzuvedb said:

There are a lot of silent counts being done at the CLink, more so than before. Watch the left guard of these teams. They tap the centers hip just before the snap. I'm sure most teams Practice that Alot leading up to games in Seattle. If you watched the AZ game in AZ, the Cardinals had to do the same thing at HOME!!! Because Hawks fans were so loud there

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This is why our pass rush is so good at home. When you have easy tells, it alleviates things like the hard count, long count, and such. Our gets get better explosion knowing when the snap is going to happen.

They learned that if they say anything, they will piss the fans off and we will be louder.

I was at the game when the refs thru the flag on the fans for crowd noise. I thought we were going to blow the roof off the King Dome.

Yes. I think it just comes down to a certain amount of focus. Every team treats a game with Seattle like it's their Super Bowl now that the Hawks are the defending champs. The team is so good on 2nd/3rd and long that one false start against this team usually means the end of a drive or turnover. Teams simply can't afford to take penalties against our team at CLINK so they pretty much just focus on the snap count at nauseam.

I hate to be THAT guy, but I went to two games this year (Raiders and Giants) and I didn't think it was as loud as it normally is.

Now maybe the Raiders and Giants were arguably the worst games for fans getting fired up, but never the less I noticed less noise than in years past.

Add in teams are now adept at practicing silent counts, and that all adds up to less false starts.

Sgt. Largent":1qku5fl0 said:

I hate to be THAT guy, but I went to two games this year (Raiders and Giants) and I didn't think it was as loud as it normally is.

Now maybe the Raiders and Giants were arguably the worst games for fans getting fired up, but never the less I noticed less noise than in years past.

Add in teams are now adept at practicing silent counts, and that all adds up to less false starts.

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Theres been alot of talk about this as well. Season tix holders selling their tix. Fans aren't as "hungry" anymore.... who knows if thats true or not. But let's bring it in two weeks.

Um. I'd agree with PP in that teams are definitely preparing more and you see pretty much every team come in with silent count for offense, and many of them have earplugs for the linemen so that they can't even hear the snap count if they wanted to... it is supposed to make them more focused, but can backfire.

I think there were games this year where the crowd didn't expect a competitive game, the Giants and Raiders were two of those, and frankly, even the early part of the Rams game was relatively tame, it got fired up in the mid third quarter and stayed good after that... I think the Seahawk faithful are intelligent fans and that can result in some apathy in some situations.

Finally, and the conspiracy theorists might like this, I think the NFL is giving a lot more leeway to visiting offenses. You'll see a lot more motion along the offensive line that never gets called as a false start... in the past, just a hand motion or a twitch would get a false start call, now, that doesn't happen. Before my comment seems too weird, I actually think that false starts across the league are down, which is how the Clink still leads the NFL in opponent false start penalties since 2005. The other numbers have barely changed over the last season, and we've picked up four or five. (Ridiculous by the way considering the 11 that we got vs the Giants way back when... I'm pretty sure we haven't even come close to that in eight full games!)

Personally, I don't think the crowd noise has been as loud as last season. Of course, this is just my observation from TV viewing but even my brother said that the 2 games he has been to this season is nothing compared to last year.

I'm not gonna lie, I died a little inside during the Cardinals game at AZ when they flashed up the stat showing that AZ has the most false-starts at their place the last few years.

Seahwkgal":3cx4v9jj said:

Personally, I don't think the crowd noise has been as loud as last season. Of course, this is just my observation from TV viewing but even my brother said that the 2 games he has been to this season is nothing compared to last year.

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After winning a SB, how could the fans still have that angry out to prove something inferiority Seattle sports complex we've had for 30-40 years?

Makes sense that the fanbase would mellow a little with success...........but I don't doubt for a minute that we'll bring it in the playoffs.

The SF game was loud. There were way more 9er fans at the NFCCG than a few weeks ago.

I also noticed how few Packer fans there were week 1 compared to the MNF hail mary game. Lots of go pack go back then.

Im curious how many Dallas fans came to the game this year?

Do you think there would be more GB or Dal fans for the NCFCG?

Wenhawk":3juoamr3 said:

Do you think there would be more GB or Dal fans for the NCFCG?

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I'm very fearful of the combo of these two fanbases + the amount of money season ticket holders could get for selling their NCFCG tickets.

Green Bay and Dallas arguably have the largest fanbases that wouldn't hesitate to shell out thousands to see their team in the NCFCG.

You'd hope Hawk season ticket holders wouldn't sell, but you know it's a possibility if the money's too much to resist.

Seahawk Sailor":2ono6mc7 said:

May be a lot of different factors, but the one thing that comes instantly to mind is that teams probably expect it a whole lot more, and don't take it as unseriously as before. Used to be we'd hear teams scoff at the noise level, saying they'd been to loud stadiums before and that it wasn't a big deal. Now that many have recanted their earlier words and opinions, other teams and players are not so flippant as to disregard it. When one is prepared for something, it mitigates the effects.

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Good point. You don't hear guys downplay the noise as much anymore. I think they all learned their lessons.

I was at AZ, SF and St Louis and it was loud as hell in section 307. Can't speak for the white wine and spritzer seats down below, but upstairs people were getting up and getting loud.

Teams have definitely made adjustments with the guard tapping the center once the QB is ready. That's why we have fewer false starts than in years past. But you can see that once they get to the line they are limited in what they can do to audible, set protections and generally communicate. One thing I do notice, and I'm not sure how it compares to other years, people don't start really making noise until they break the huddle. Unless it's a big situation then the noise is pretty much their huddle to snap. I like to make noise huddle to snap on every play we're on defense. Since we're not getting the false starts, which as a fan I personally felt like, "We did that!", I take great pleasure and pride in seeing them struggle to communicate standing right next to each other. :twisted: :mrgreen:

SC

Wenhawk":fa331ks4 said:

The SF game was loud. There were way more 9er fans at the NFCCG than a few weeks ago.

I also noticed how few Packer fans there were week 1 compared to the MNF hail mary game. Lots of go pack go back then.

Im curious how many Dallas fans came to the game this year?

Do you think there would be more GB or Dal fans for the NCFCG?

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This is a welcome side effect to getting good and staying good. Establishing a dynasty will turn some of those opposing fans into bandwagoners, and more new fans will buy tickets instead of the opposing fans. This is one of the reasons Dallas and Green Bay and Pittsburgh have so many fans all over the country. People hopped aboard during their dynastic runs and more stayed than left afterward.

Having the Legion of Boom, a defense ranked right up there with some of the named, feared defenses of old, will certainly help to grow our fan base. And the more fans we have, the fewer opposing fans will show up in our stadium to cheer for the other team. This is a good thing, folks. A very good thing. Bandwagoners may get a bad rep, but they grow our numbers and help alleviate any complacency we've gotten from finally winning it all.

And as far as opposing Green Bay or Dallas fans shelling out huge money to see their team in the NFC Championship game here, sure, it's going to happen. It does anywhere, and because those franchises have so many fans, it's going to be noticeable. But at least a few of those bandwagoners will mitigate some of that now, and the more success we have, the better it will be.

And the more Seahawks fans in attendence as opposed to fans of opposing teams, the louder the place will be, and the more false starts will be generated.

Like anything else after a few years the solution is known throughout the league.