SEATTLE – By the time they arrive home from Green Bay on the evening of Jan. 1, the Seattle Seahawks will have logged more than 17,500 miles in air travel. So it’s understandable that they appreciate a Sunday at home.
And it is imperative that they take advantage of them.
As the Seahawks open their home schedule today, they realize the importance of using Qwest Field to their advantage. Seattle has gone 13-3 at home over the past two seasons, each year ending in a trip to the playoffs.
“If you can win all your home games, all you’ve got to do is win four on the road, and then you’re probably the No. 1 seed in the playoffs,” cornerback Andre Dyson said. “And if you win two or three on the road, you’re probably in the playoffs. It’s that important to win at home.”
The Seahawks need look no further than the 2003 season for the importance of winning at home. They went 8-0 at Qwest Field that season, needing only two road wins to make the postseason.
Last year’s 5-3 record at home – 5-4 when the playoff loss to St. Louis is included – was considered a mild disappointment. But they did enough on the road, going 4-4, to make the playoffs.
Seattle has won its home opener in each of the past two seasons after coach Mike Holmgren started his Seattle tenure with losses four years in a row. His most infamous home opener may have been the 2002 loss to Arizona, which marked the first regular season game ever played at Qwest Field. The Seahawks eventually fell to 2-7 before a hot streak helped them salvage a 7-9 record that year.
So Holmgren knows just how important these home openers are.
“I think your home opener, and all your games at home, are special,” he said. “It’s not a life-and-death thing or a do-or-die by any stretch, but it is an important football game.”
Of the Seahawks’ seven remaining road trips, three come against teams that are expected to challenge for postseason berths: St. Louis, Arizona and Philadelphia. Two others come in stadiums where the Seahawks have generally struggled as of late – Seattle has a combined road record of 1-4 at Washington and Green Bay during the Holmgren era.
Suffice to say, every home game has heightened importance if the Seahawks are going to challenge for a playoff berth.
“You should go into every home game saying, we can’t lose,” Dyson said. “As fans, players, and everyone around here, that’s the way you’ve got to look at it.”
The magnitude of today’s game seems to be apparent throughout the locker room.
“Our back’s against the wall,” running back Shaun Alexander said. “This whole season, our back’s against the wall. We’ve been together long enough, and we’ve got to do something.
“This game is really, really key for us. It’s not a do-or-die, but it’s huge. If there’s anything in our mind that this isn’t huge, then that’s a great, great mistake that we’re making.”
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