Seahawks Fans Projected Quiet vs. Jaguars

Like most road teams travelling to Seattle, the Jaguars are preparing for a ton of noise. In the press conferences leading up to the Sunday match-up, each of head coach Urban Meyer, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and cornerback Shaquill Griffin were questioned on the challenges that the Seahawks' stadium and the 12s bring.

What have the Seattle guys told you about the stadium out there?

Urban Meyer, Wednesday: "They said: ‘it’s the loudest outdoor stadium to play in.’ And I said ‘LSU, Alabama, Penn State?’ And they said ‘yes.’ So, if they said yes to louder than 110,000, they said the thing’s built, plus the fans are outstanding. So we’re gonna work hard at it.”

Urban said that you guys tried to tell him it was the loudest atmosphere in football?

Shaquill Griffin, Wednesday: "I didn’t try to tell him, I told him. It is the loudest. You know, good thing is I’m on defense on opposite side, so I don’t hear all that noise. You know they quiet on offense, so that will be a first. You know I’m usually on defense, the opposing offense, I can’t hear a call. But now I’m on the quiet side!”

You know how loud that 12th man in Seattle can be, how do you talk to Trevor about dealing with some of the crowd noise? I think coach Meyer said somebody in the building told him that’s probably the loudest stadium in the country, louder than any of the college fields he’s probably been at.

Darrell Bevell, Thursday: “Yeah, for an outdoor stadium. I mean, I had good years there with that noise and for an outdoor stadium it’s about as loud as it can be and I think, you know, great fans there. So, for us, I think the first thing is understanding it’s going to be loud. But then you’re poised and functioning in that atmosphere. So, obviously out here at practice, we’ve got it cranked up in all the periods and the thing that it does it affects your communication, so we have to really be on point with that. You’ve got to have the non-verbal communication, you’ve got to have signals. All those things. And still need to be poised enough, in those situations, where it can speed you up, you know, in your mentality. So you gotta stay poised and understand the clock is still 40 seconds, and all those things and get your stuff done and orchestrate it in a timely fashion.”

Trevor Lawrence, Wednesday: “I’ve heard the same thing. It’s super loud. The fans are super into the game, they’re invested into their team. I’ve heard it’s a great place to play. So, I’ve played at a lot of really loud stadiums but we’re ready for whatever. I think when you’re getting ready for a road game, you’re always ready for the max level of noise so you do everything you can to prepare. And then if you get there and it’s not as loud you think, you can, that’s easy to adjust that way. But if you didn’t prepare for a loud game, then you can’t communicate, it’s really hard to last minute get all that in order. So we’re gonna prepare like we’re not gonna be able to hear anything and then, going from there if we can, we’ll adjust as the game goes. But we’re definitely preparing for a loud atmosphere.”

Clearly, Jacksonville is heavily preparing for a typically roudy atmosphere, the kind that saw the 12s compete with Kansas City fans for the loudest stadium record in 2013.

As well as challenging opposing offenses communication-wise, this crowd noise tangibly aids the defense. The pass rush runs their games based off where the center points. And the center will only point if the offense is forced to go silent because of the fans (Explained here).

However, the expected noise is unlikely to happen.

Jaguars Twitter noticed during the week how many empty seats the 2-5, Geno Smith-led Seahawks have left at Lumen Field. Take this tweet from Jaguars fan/NFL insider @E_Dilla:

A cursory glance at ticket re-selling sites shows seats available for as low as $18. Not only is the cost low, but there are plenty of seats still available on gameday—suggesting that it will be a visibly empty Lumen Field.

The Seahawks’ sustained period of success has naturally led to rising ticket prices, leaving some loyal fans (and part of the true noise) unable to attend. Ahead of the 2014 season, Seattle increased the price for season tickets by just less than 12 percent. Before their 2016 campaign, the Seahawks announced a four percent increase in season ticket costs. And the last three years have seen season ticket prices increase at a “blended average rate of five percent,” according to the Seahawks’ site.

Perhaps some of the fans who were priced out of attending Seattle football games will be able to return. Then again, is it really worth it?