Ernest Jones praises Seahawks fans vs. Saints, vows to 'feed them chaos'

Lumen Field used to be one of the toughest NFL venues for opposing teams to earn a win. That was back when the Seattle Seahawks had one of the league's best defenses, and the fans had faith their contributions were helping fuel a third- or fourth-down stop.

That home-field advantage isn't what it used to be, especially after the Seahawks entered Sunday's Week 3 game against the New Orleans Saints having lost seven of their previous eight games in Seattle. But the team's 44-13 blowout win showed it may be starting to return to form.

Mike Macdonald has his defense rolling, allowing just 15.6 points per game over the first three weeks of the season. Linebacker Ernest Jones IV is loving the fans' energy back in the stadium.

"When you have a crowd, and you have fans that show up like the 12s do, you gotta go win games at home, and you gotta put emphasis on when you do get a home game, you go out there and you ball out and you feed them chaos," Jones told reporters after the game.

Seattle Seahawks fans look on during warmups before the game. — Sep 7, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks fans look on during warmups before the game against San Francisco 49ers at Lumen Field. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

With the help of their special teams unit, Seattle took an early 21-0 lead in the first quarter. By that time, the Lumen Field crowd was already buzzing on late-down defensive plays. That's when the defense kicked into gear, holding the Saints to just a pair of field goals by halftime. Seattle already led 38-6.

"I was telling the guys on the sideline, I don’t know how many times since I’ve been here we’ve played with that much of a lead," Jones added. "So, when we get those leads like that, pin your ears back and let’s go hunt, man. Let’s go get after the ball, get after the quarterback, and they get nothing."

The Seahawks defense gave up fewer than 300 yards of offense for the second-straight game, and that was even with a whole quarter of garbage time for New Orleans to pad its stats. Even with backups in the game, nothing came easy for the Saints on the road.

Seattle won't have their home fans behind it in Week 4 as it travels to face the Arizona Cardinals in a divisional matchup on Thursday, Sept. 25. But the extra rest for the starters — and hopefully some returning to the lineup — should be beneficial for the unit.

More Seahawks on SI stories