So this season has caused me often to wonder if those of us STH's that faithfully attend games, scream our voices hoarse and feel we are "contributing" to home wins, are actually making a big difference.

In a season with no 12's at any home games, the Seahawks just won the division with one of the best records in their history. They were 7-1 at home. The last year they had 12's in the stands they were 4-4 at home.

There is nothing like the atmosphere at Qwest/CenturyLink/Lumen Field on gameday, but are we really contributing as much as we think we are?

Not that I'm giving up my seats any time soon, but this year has certainly been eye opening.

It's an interesting question for sure. I think the crowd flat out does make a huge difference. The record has been outstanding, but especially in the playoffs, the home field advantage has been massive. For plenty of teams, it's very necessary to them getting the job done. This Saturday would be night and day imo, and the team clearly feeds off of it. But, to see them go 7-1 w/no fans in the stands, it's interesting to say the least. It's going to be strange to watch playoffs for the first time with very little to no fans in the stands at most of the games.

The crowd may have an effect on a play or two here and there, but I think the most important aspect of a home field advantage is not needing to travel. Plus, the crowd isn't going to have any impact on the game if the team sucks.

They help the gameday atmosphere, but I think their impact on wins and losses is overrated.

The biggest quantifiable stat is false starts which happen a lot here. I was surprised there were as many this year during a few games. The other thing is it's hard for both sides to hear. Raise your hand if you remember John Elway looking at the ref and throwing his hands up? Those bastards were gonna fine us time outs! There is a reason we have a reputation. Ever do the wave?

No crowd noise actually helps our D communicate easier.

sutz wrote:No crowd noise actually helps our D communicate easier.

My thoughts exactly, which is obviously very important for THIS defense has we saw earlier in the year what it's like when they don't communicate

It’s a balance between a little hype for the D in big situations and some celebration when something epic happens. I feel the crowd can help lift the team in key moments. When it gets loud at home I think the D has the advantage. An electric atmosphere can make amazing things happen, and thankfully I’ve been in the house for so many awesome moments. It is killing me knowing I won’t be there Saturday. GO HAWKS

I think it's a factor but not enough to give a bad team significantly more wins or anything. Just look at last year's 4-4 with fans vs this year's 7-1.

The one place that it clearly is a factor is the opponent trying to hear signals on offense. It makes a huge difference, especially in creating the false start penalties. Players talk about how much the noise hypes them up all the time.
HFA in the playoffs is almost a non-factor for teams this season. Though being at home has it's own advantages regardless. So, the fans being there certainly is important in some ways.
Shoot, I'm amazed that the players can stay so hyped up in a quiet stadium. Wyman talked about how what you hear on tv isn't close to what is actually being heard on the field. Let alone the atmosphere.

Having fans in the stands definitely make a difference, and are likely the primary reason for HFA imho. From 2002 to 2019 teams won nearly 57 percent of their home games, this was the first year where home teams were less than .500! Me thinks maybe the Hawks are just a good team with better home matchups this year.


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I think Seattle beats the Giants if we had fans for that game.

I think the team feeds off the positive energy that the crowd provides. Even when away, the teammates point up to the 12s in the crowd and point them out as a motivating piece of the pie. The team is the pie and the fans are the whipped cream with the cherry on top.

Mad Dog wrote:So this season has caused me often to wonder if those of us STH's that faithfully attend games, scream our voices hoarse and feel we are "contributing" to home wins, are actually making a big difference.

In a season with no 12's at any home games, the Seahawks just won the division with one of the best records in their history. They were 7-1 at home. The last year they had 12's in the stands they were 4-4 at home.

There is nothing like the atmosphere at Qwest/CenturyLink/Lumen Field on gameday, but are we really contributing as much as we think we are?

Not that I'm giving up my seats any time soon, but this year has certainly been eye opening.

I think the HFA noise factor in recent years has been less of a factor for these reasons: The defense were able to rely on crowd noise at home to help disrupt timing and therefore it creates an inconsistency in their game home vs away. AND the crowd noise at home is also now expected, so most teams just plan for it. I think this year without the 12s it forced the team to be more consistent at home and away which is a big thing.

As a fellow STH I will also say in the last few years I've noticed a change in WHEN noise is being made during the game. The issue is majority of fans today in the stands only get loud during the snap, the thought process being let' aid that false start stat we love to see. Where HFA really occurs with noise is when noise is being made as soon as the last play is called dead and the opposing team is trying to make on the field playcalling. IN the loudest years 2012-2014 you have footage of opposing QBs screaming their asses off trying to get playcalls out, having to take timeouts, and well that's where the noise HFA is. Today though you have people making noise when they line up, the opposing squad has already made playcalls even before the huddle (the Niners even said they started doing this to combat the noise factor). So the only real HFA is "energy" during a comeback. During 2012-2014 I would start screaming my ass off as soon as the last play call went dead and others quickly joined me. in the last few years if I attempted this others looked at me like I was being stupid and starting too early. So our HFA regarding crowd noise has also become less of a factor for that reason. It's not the amount of noise at peak its really WHEN and how long that noise is being made. But hey everyone has the right to sit down and enjoy their game vs losing their voices they paid for those seats.