IndianFan":1jr9qfe0 said:
There is nothing mild about the hyperbole of the Clink home field advantage in most hawks' fans minds as evidenced by the exchanges here. I am just honestly trying to understand where that sense of invincibility comes from. Recent home victories? Recent penalties by opposing teams? Historical home victories?
There is...you might call it a legend of miraculous home wins for Seattle going back to 2005. Much of it is the fact that CentryLink Field has the highest number of false starts in the league dating back to that year. A few other fun moments that help bolster the mystique:
* 2005, Week 7: After a frustrating, low-scoring game very much the antithesis of that year's offense, Seattle finally puts a touchdown on the board to tie the game 10-10 with 1:26 remaining. Immediately afterwards, Jordan Babineaux breaks on a poor pass from Drew Bledsoe and returns it to field goal range, paving the way for Josh Brown to kick a game-winning field goal and tear his helmet off in celebration. Ten-minute swing for Seattle in the final minute and a half.
* 2005, Week 11: In an effort to close out a game they rightfully shouldn't even have had the chance to, the Giants miss
three game-winning field goals, two of them in overtime. Seattle's offense finally musters enough ground to get Brown back in range, and he wins another close one.
* 2005, Divisional Round: After two lost fumbles and losing offensive engine Shaun Alexander to a concussion, Matt Hasselbeck puts the team on his back (generous assist from WR Darrell Jackson) and leads his team to a 20-10 win, including a now-immortal image of Hass outsprinting Shawn Springs to the corner of the endzone on a scramble.
* 2006, Week 12: Shaun Alexander pauses his abrupt decline to rush for 201 yards against the Packers in a snow-filled Qwest Field (former name).
* 2006, Wild Card Round: As Dallas lines up to kick a fourth-quarter field-goal and attain a 23-21 lead, Tony Romo decides to hold the football for the kicker and bobbles the snap. Immersed by Seahawks, he lights out for the end zone with the ball and is tackled a yard short by (again) Jordan Babineaux. Seattle regains the ball on downs, the stadium explodes, and Shaun Alexander puts the game on ice with a 20-yard rush on the next play. (A year later, Seattle's covetous GM signs leading Dallas rusher Julius Jones and spends two years regretting it.)
* 2008, Week 16: After a brutal, injury-filled season, the Seahawks host the New York Jets during a rare snowstorm that brought Seattle to a standstill for two weeks. I had just managed to fly into town for Christmas and was watching from the stands as Seattle played a slippery, defensive game worthy of Foxborough, CB Josh Wilson effectively neutralizing Brett Favre singlehandedly during Mike Holmgren's final home game as Seattle head coach. Some Jets DT got a giant snowball smack in the face from a fan and tried to sue, if I remember correctly.
* 2010, Week 3: Battered and scarred from a horrific roster that turned out NOT to be caused by 2008's injury ridiculousness, slowly recovering, and under the watchful eye of the entire Pete Carroll-hating league, Seattle showcases the new talent they've rotated in. Earl Thomas and Red Bryant corral four Chargers turnovers, and Leon Washington breaks two return touchdowns on the way to an unlikely 27-20 victory.
* 2010, Wild-Card Round: The BeastQuake. That is all I will say.
* 2011, Week 10: Still doubted by useless idiots the nation over, Seattle unveils its new Marshawn-Lynch rushing attack for its home fans, grinding out 109 yards against that year's #2 rushing defense, Baltimore. Lynch is currently the league's leading rusher since that week.
* 2011, Week 13: Every phase of the game puts on fireworks for the home fans against Philadelphia. Brandon Browner intercepts Vince Young twice and announces himself as a hard-nosed ballhawk despite getting gifts on both picks; Tarvaris Jackson manages his finest throw of the year, a
perfectly-placed back-of-the-endzone TD pass to a leaping Golden Tate; and Lynch scores two touchdowns,
including this mini-Beastquake. 38-14 Seattle. (What were you saying about "no blowouts"?)
* 2012, Week 2: Fans holding their breaths expecting another rookie game from Russell Wilson and an exposing light of truth on our bad-QB-hawking defense are pleasantly shocked to watch their Seahawks dominate the inconsistent Dallas Cowboys 27-7, physically and visibly beating the team down. Golden Tate's decleating of Sean Lee keeps the Seahawks highlights flowing to the Internet's .GIF gurus in their mother's basements. (Still not sure what you meant by "no blowouts").
* 2012, Week 3: In what will forever overshadow an incredible defensive performance from Seattle (eight sacks in the first-half against a Pro Bowl QB is an accomplishment and "he's not on his game this year" doesn't diminish that, sorry), Golden Tate manages a miracle game-winning TD in the end zone and simultaneously reduces the nation's unemployment rate by prompting the refs to finally strike the stupid deal. Debate continues over whether it was really a catch, and I couldn't care less. The Green Bay cornerback should've batted the ball down.
So between all the last-minute miracles and expectations-defying statement games that have taken place in Seattle in the last six seasons, our fans definitely feel a right to claim the CLink mystique. Nobody's arguing that this won't compensate for a broken team, but that was the story of 2008-2009. It's not the story anymore.
