Schedule-makers gave Bo Nix a nice welcome-to-the-NFL gift, an all-expenses-paid trip to Seattle. Generally considered the NFL’s second-loudest stadium, Lumen Field has hit 137.6 decibels, the equivalent of camping in a lawnchair at the end of a runway and listening to a departing jetliner blow your hair back.
Nix, who will be the fifth-oldest rookie quarterback to start an NFL opener, is mature enough to handle noise. But former Seahawks defensive tackle Brandon Mebane said the key to the Seattle crowd is affecting the offensive line, not the quarterback.
“Crowd noise is very, very important,” Mebane said Thursday on The Reset podcast with Gee Scott. “It affects the offensive linemen. Say you have a defensive end just getting off the ball, or a D-tackle getting off the ball. It’s hard for a tackle or guard to know when the ball is snapped because he’s focusing on that D-end and D-tackle getting off the ball.”
Mebane should know. He had the best seat in the stadium during his first nine NFL seasons, watching Seattle’s 12th Man affect offensive lines. Since the beginning of 2013, when Mebane and the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, Seattle owns the NFL’s fourth-best home winning percentage (65-30, .684, including playoffs).
Mike Macdonald agreed, telling reporters he hopes his first game as Seahawks head coach (4:05 p.m. ET, CBS) is a physical experience.
“I hope that my ears are ringing,” Macdonald said Wednesday. “I hope that we have trouble communicating.”