By Scott M. Johnson
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – Two more games in Motel Husky. Just two more Sundays of spending the afternoon at a temporary home.
The countdown is on for the Seattle Seahawks’ stay at Husky Stadium, although they might be leaving at a bad time.
While the University of Washington facility certainly leaves much to be desired, it also has started to bring the Seahawks some home-field advantage recently.
“We’ve adapted to that stadium,” offensive lineman Todd Weiner said. “It fits us well.”
With one notable exception, most of the Seahawks’ struggles this season have come on the road. The only bad home loss came in Week 2, when the Philadelphia Eagles handed Seattle a 27-3 defeat at Husky Stadium. Since then, the Seahawks have gone 4-1 at home, including two games in which they scored 34 points.
The road has been a totally different story, as Seattle has lost four of its last five away from its temporary home.
Statistically, the Seahawks have been two different teams at home and on the road (see graphic). While the team has developed a comfort level at Husky Stadium, the Seahawks remain an enigma at opposing venues.
“We haven’t gotten it done on the road, for one reason or another,” center Robbie Tobeck said. “It’s something we’ve got to figure out pretty quick because we’ve got two road games coming up, and they’re must-win games. We have to get it figured out and learn how to win those tough games. If you look around, it’s tough to win on the road. You don’t want to be in that class. The good teams figure out a way to win.”
Actually, the road hasn’t been as tough to most NFL teams this season as one might figure. League-wide, home teams hold a relatively modest 100-88 record. During the past four weeks, road teams actually have a 33-27 advantage.
Yet the Seahawks have been able to hold serve at home, for the most part.
“Maybe we’re catching our emotional highs at home or something, I don’t know,” wide receiver Darrell Jackson said. “I don’t really see the drop-off in terms of emotions when we play (at Husky Stadium). Every time we play there, the guys are fired up.”
The Pacific Northwest climate has its own intricacies, which the Seahawks can use to their advantage. After 25 years in a domed stadium, they are learning how to play in unforgiving wind and rain.
“When you play in the rain, with the wind coming off the lake and all that, we’re very comfortable with that,” Jackson said. “A lot of teams come in and see the wind and the rain and they say, ‘Whoa.’ Now when we go out there, it’s just like another day.”
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said adjusting to Seattle’s rain is like getting used to the cold Green Bay winters.
“I know in Green Bay, we used to have such an edge on warm-weather teams when they came out and played in the cold weather. But we never practiced in the cold weather,” said Hasselbeck, who spent the previous three seasons with the Packers. “Anytime it was under 50 degrees, we were inside. It was just a mental thing, and the key guys made it something they used to their advantage. … That’s something we need to do as the team, just embrace the rain and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to play better in it.’ Hopefully it will be a distraction for the teams we’ll be playing against.”
The weather has been an even bigger factor this season. Five of the Seahawks’ seven coldest games have been played at Husky, while the other two – at Kansas City and Denver – were played under sunny skies. No road conditions have been anywhere near as miserable as what the Seahawks have seen at home.
There is also the crowd factor. Even though the Seahawks have yet to sell out a home game, they seem to get some kind of a charge from the local fans. Perhaps that explains why Seattle has scored on four of its six opening drives at home, while only once on the road.
“It’s nice to have a home crowd,” Tobeck said. “I don’t care if we’re at Husky Stadium or Safeco Field or wherever it might be. You’ve got the Seattle fans there, and it’s nice to have the hometown fans yelling and cheering to help the defense out. As an offense, we don’t have to deal with that at home, the crowd noise and stuff.”
The offense does have to deal with noise on the road, and Hasselbeck said the team deliberately cuts down on using audibles away from Husky Stadium.
There are no long plane rides during the weekends of home games, nor are there the distractions that come with staying in a new city.
It sure can be sweet to play at home. The Seahawks are proving that even a rented home will do.
At least for now.
“Husky Stadium is a great stadium,” Jackson said, “but I’m ready to move into our own locker room.”
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