After Seattle’s latest home defeat, although he certainly didn’t use that development as an excuse, quarterback Geno Smith said the quiet part out loud and commented on the number of Buffalo fans who attended and were on this trip. area.

“Hats off to Buffalo. They came and beat us at home. Their fans are well traveled. It was really loud in there and at times it felt like we were on the road,” Smith said. “They came out, they battled and they beat us. We can say we made mistakes, but they took advantage of it. These are things we need to get better at and we’ve got a big week ahead of us, so now is the time.”

Dating back to 2019, the Seahawks were far from dominant at Lumen Field during the COVID-affected 2020 campaign, barring games without fans. They have a 15-15 record in their last 30 home games, including Sunday’s final debacle that dropped them to 2-3 at home this season; This is far from an isolated problem that has only emerged this year with a new coach. Mike Macdonald is at the helm.

Seeing the sea of ​​blue and red that invaded the stadium on Sunday afternoon, especially behind Buffalo’s sideline in close-up that could be mistaken for Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, it’s easy to see the lack of fan interest as one of the factors behind this performance. decrease in performance. This has become a frequent occurrence, as San Francisco fans also turned out in droves for the Week 6 victory in Seattle.

But as Macdonald noted Monday, he doesn’t think the Seahawks will have to deal with that issue if they win more games, especially at home where they have a losing record this season. He also didn’t feel like home-field advantage was diminishing on the field and praised his fans for bringing the noise from start to finish on Sunday.

“We’ve got to win. We’ve got to win, period,” Macdonald said. “If we constantly kick our asses and do what we’re supposed to do, opposing fans won’t want to come to the game. And our fans, I think they’re doing a great job and they’ll stick with us until the end of the season.” game and I know we fight and they fight with us. We have to do a better job of putting out a product that they actually want to root for.”

Speaking of this product, it wasn’t a very pleasant viewing experience for fans. Although the Seahawks won their first two home games in September against the Broncos and Dolphins, they were chronically hampered by slow starts on offense and defense and regularly found themselves in catch-up mode in the second half, as they did once again against the Bills on Sunday. .

Through its first five home games, Seattle has averaged just 8.4 points per game in the first two quarters, and that statistic is actually a bit misleading from an offensive standpoint. If a 102-yard fumble for a touchdown by safety Rayshawn Jenkins against the New York Giants is omitted, the offense averaged seven points per game in the first half, which would equal 14 points for a full game and rank 31st in the rankings. N.F.L.

In comparison, despite playing just three road games so far, the Seahawks averaged 13.6 points per game in the first half against Lumen Field. For a full game, they would rank in the top five for offenses in the NFL, surpassing 27 points per game.

Defensively, Macdonald’s side are not very good at starting games either. Other than holding the Tua Tagovailoa-less Dolphins to three first-half points in Week 3, the Seahawks have scored at least 13 points in the first half in three of their five home games, scoring 11.8 points per game in the first half. For a full-game average, allowing more than 23 points per game would rank 19th in the NFL, and would undoubtedly rank much lower with a win over Miami.

What caused these dismal beginnings? When asked on Monday, Macdonald was unable to put his finger on anything that caused a significant difference in the first-half performance at home compared to away matches, correctly admitting it was an all-round problem for his team.

Macdonald responded, “I wish I had an answer to that.” “This is definitely a point that needs to be emphasized.”

Offensively, Seattle is plagued by chronically abrasive and self-inflicted wounds. Other than two safeties in the season opener against Denver, DK Metcalf coughed up a fumble to cap off a promising win against New York, Smith threw an ugly interception against San Francisco in the opener, and Connor Williams threw air over Smith. sent the mail. He head-butted him along with stomping on his foot to trip him on two separate red-zone gaffes against Buffalo on Sunday.

Defensively, the Seahawks mostly sleepwalked after the opening kick. Macdonald’s defense has held the opposing offense at least 79 times on each of the last three drives, including a 14-play, 110-yard touchdown drive against the Bills on Sunday, when Josh Allen threw for 80 yards and a field goal on seven completions. yards allowed. Penalties three are a controversial issue. If it weren’t for bad luck at the goal line that led to Jenkins scoring a goal in Week 5, they would have allowed 17 points in the last three opening series at Lumen.

Special teams are not immune to the slow play out of the gate, either, as rookie punt returner Dee Williams muffed the punt that led to a Broncos field goal on the opening drive and veteran Laviska Shenault coughed up a fumble on a kick return on the set. 49ers shot.

Simply put, everyone at all three levels, from the coaching staff to the players, had a hand in Seattle’s terrible first half performances in front of their home fans this year. Given the numerous issues that have contributed to these woes, Macdonald and his assistants plan to dig deeper this week and see if they can implement some subtle changes to help curb that trend and begin restoring home-field advantage with another game at Lumen Field. Next weekend against the Rams.

“That could be a big weapon for us, getting a lead and forcing them to throw more balls and things like that, but we’ll get there. The beginning part of these games is really exciting and our players are really excited. We’ll adapt some practices around that. Definitely.” It will be a topic of conversation.”

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