From 2002-2011, the Seahawks went 81-79. Middle of the pack win percentage in the NFC.

For the same period, our HOME record was 51-29! SECOND in the NFC only behind Green Bay.

Obviously the home advantage is a real phenomenon, but I have often wondered what actually causes it.

The impact of the fans?

The weariness of travel?

The different time zone?

The unfamiliarity?

Is this a stupid question? I don't know but I really don't get it.

More specifically, why is THIS Seahawks team struggling on the road? Why can't they seem to bring it without the crowd blowing up for them?

????? If I knew I wouldn't be on an internet fan site I'd be in the league coaching these guys up.

_________________

"Tracy Porter lost his manhood when Marshawn stiff armed him" some dude on youtube.

body clock does affect, flying east coast and playing 1 pm EST is equivalent to playing at 10 am our time, so that's too early for the body to be ready normally. Thst's why we normally do better in Monday night even if we are away.

I've traveled for years and have said many times that going east is way harder on your mind than traveling west. The difference in teams in those different directions used to be pretty extensive. I know there are those that don't believe this but it sure mattered to me and the sales people I worked with. We'd be mentally beat for about 24 hours.

Last year Pete went a day early to 3 hour, 10am games and it seemed to help. I don't have the answer but it seems to me that Pete has the team more ready to play.

_________________

Still missing you everyday pal.

Our team may actually just perform better at home due to the adrenaline of playing in front of such an amazing home crowd.

We may come back down to earth away because we're playing in a hostile environment.

Why all these threads on road struggles this year? We've lost two close games that came down to the last possession against two tough divisional opponents. If we start getting waxed on the road against terrible teams, like this week, I'll get worried.

We are mediocre. Mediocre teams lose on the road.

I know that seams overly simple but good, strong, dominant football teams have an excellent chance of winning anywhere.

Us not so much.. We just aren't good enough.

_________________

I think all these factors are correct.. and hell.. these days, how many really BAD teams are there in the NFL? Not many. So home field advantage definitely helps.

I don't think you can discount the fact when they play on the east coast, it's usually at 10AM Pacific. That's a big advantage for the team used to playing at 1 PM going west and playing at 4 PM east coast time. Too lazy to look up the specifics, but I know we're not the only west coast team that struggles in that scenario.. hell off the top of my head, the Niners and Raiders already lost on the long trip. I bet at the end of the year, west coast teams finish under .500 in the coast-to-coast trip.

_________________
Seahawks vs. TBD - Super Bowl 48 - February 2, 2014

We're not that good...
It's pretty sad for me to say, but it's the honest truth. The advantage we get from C-Link is incredible. That's why when we go on the road we normally lose. In the past few years, the only games we win on the road is if S-teams and D play a MASSIVE role- either a pick 6- Punt/Kick return for TD...ect.

If the Baltimore's, GB, NE, of the world had a home field advantage like we did, they would be unbeatable at home.

_________________


"We all we got, we all we need"

Some parts are good enough, but others not so much.....

I think Techworld's nailed it. Only very good teams can consistently win on the road. IIRC, Seattle only had one season with a winning road record during that stretch: 2005.

_________________

"I believe there’s merit to the idea that once something in life becomes conventional, it’s no longer the safest path to success." -Matt Waldman
"If everyone's thinking alike, no one's thinking." -Bill Walsh

Being from the east coast, going west and adapting to the time change is really easy compared to going east (gaining time). I find going east is a bit depressing just because of the time loss. It could just be me though.

There are some areas I can ponder about:

1 - Offensive Skill positions.

WR - Besides Largent and Blades, cannot think of a reliable, high performing WR that spanned multiple years. DJack was not bad but he could be inconsistent. Engram was reliable, but wasn't making huge game changing plays throughout the season.

TE - Stevens was probably our most gifted athletically but never could lose his demons

RB - Alexander was explosive and helped during the brief period the Seahawks weren't total turds on the road. But they lost many an embarrassing road game at the height of the Seahawks success. During Lynch's time here the team has won @Chicago (2), @NY, @St Louis, @Arizona.

2 - QB. Matt is the best QB the team has had. During his heyday (2002-2007) the team won at a decent clip on the road (3-5 games won a year). Get a Franchise QB better than Matt and you should see better road records.

3 - Defensive playmakers. Not until Chuck Knox came onboard and nor since has the defense had league-wide acclaimed play makers. Pete is starting to fill the defense with these type of players. Lofa was briefly under Mike but there wasn't much around him. Hill showed flashes but seems as though our old schemes robbed him of being a sack artist, then injuries and run-ins with the law kept him from becoming that impact player.

4 - Coaching. Mike had cred as an offensive guy but he had his issues. Pete is an incomplete. Knox was a good coach but not a heralded one. He just never had an abundance of talent to work with as a team. He had a good coaching staff but for the most part the team was a middle of the road type of team. Knox could never get over the hump with the Rams or Bills when he coached them either. Thus a mediocre road team.

Just some rambling thoughts of mine.

_________________

"Pray to the LORD now...Seattle are a bunch of heathen atheist Canadians."
NFL GM: "How do you stop a Seahawk? Take away his doctor's prescription pad."”

The sad thing is we have a very tough road schedule this year and even with what I think is a much more solid team, winning on the road is hard. Aside from our divisional rivals we're playing Giants (recent SB winner), Colts, Texans, and Falcons (all teams that made playoffs this year). So I can see us having a poor road win schedule and they'll still say we suck on the road despite the fact that our road schedule this year is tough as nails.

The main problem has been we haven't scored as many points as our opponents.

_________________
@SeahawkGreg

YEAH, WE HAVE A DUDE NAMED CHRISTINE...DEAL WITH IT!

Meh, I'm not sweating it. Giants are not that good. They had their run.

The Colts better find a defense, because we'll hang a lot of points on them.

Texans will be a tough game, especially trying to keep Watt off of Wilson.

We all know we are better than the Falcons...

_________________
@SeahawkGreg

YEAH, WE HAVE A DUDE NAMED CHRISTINE...DEAL WITH IT!

Well seeing that it seems like every Seahawks team ever has struggled on the road (particularly the east coast) one has to assume its the traveling from the west coast to east coast. Factors both include the distance and time change.

I'd like to see what the Raiders, Chargers, and 49ers combined road winning percentage compared to home winning percentage has been over the past decade in the eastern time zone.

I think Pete should seriously consider staying out east when they play back to back east coast/central time zone games.

It's not just a Seahawks thing. It's a west coast thing.

Home-Road Win Percentage Differential (2007-2011):

1. Baltimore (0.775 at home; 0.450 on road)
2. Arizona (0.650 at home; 0.350 on road)
3T. Seattle (0.550 at home; 0.275 on road)
3T. San Francisco (0.625 at home; 0.350 on road)

http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/content/discomfort-zone-impact-travel-nfl-games/14372/

I think historically, our guys had a tendency to party while on the road. I recall hearing third party accounts of seeing our guys in the bars and VIPs late, the night before a road game.

_________________
Feel free to contact me if you need legal assistance. I have a great lawyer that helped me with an ex who violated my privacy and kept harassing me on MySpace and Facebook. He's very good. And there is legal precedent. - linuxpro

He is hold back the legion of boom - skater18000

10am east coast games should be done away with, especially playoff games. so the east coasters have to go to bed at 9pm ,, big whoop..

_________________
On to the Next Episode