Away teams not scared in Region of Lume?
Derek Carr credits Seahawks for loud stadium, but can Lumen Field bring the same fear as its predecessors?
In ranking his top-5 toughest stadiums to play in, retired quarterback Derek Carr placed the Seattle Seahawks and Lumen Field at 3:
“At number three, played here many a times in the regular season and the preseason, is Seattle. Man, when they had the Legion of Boom defense, I was just a young buck in the league figuring things out. Didn’t know I could throw a back shoulder on Richard Sherman in the preseason, but don’t try it in the regular season because he’s going to one hand pick it off.”
“We had a great game against the Seahawks, we’re coming back and I threw a couple of touchdowns trying to lead us back. Had another time in Seattle, it was a great game and that atmosphere is earpiercing. You can’t even hear the coach calling the play. You hope to hear one word so that you can call the rest of the play. You got to memorize your play sheets, young quarterbacks, so yeah that stuff is REAL. It’s going to happen so you don’t have to waste the timeout sometimes. We know it happens sometimes. But it was an unbelievable atmosphere, I always loved playing in Seattle.
Had one of my favroite opposing fans that you would always talk to you right there. We just had great relationships there. So, loved playing in Seattle. Had a great OT win there, Josh Jacobs ran the ball for like 120 yards on the last play, it was awesome. But Seattle, definitely one of the loudest, toughest places to play.”
Sounds like what Carr really liked was winning in Seattle, but he only ever had two trips there in the regular season:
40-34 OT win in 2022 (the Josh Jacobs game he mentioned)
30-24 loss in 2014 (the comeback attempt he mentioned)
But there was a time when 1-1 in Seattle would have felt amazing for any quarterback. After last season, how many quarterbacks feel like winning at Lumen Field should be a given?
The Seahawks went 3-6 at home in 2024, only beating:
The Broncos in Week 1 (Bo Nix NFL debut)
The Dolphins in Week 3 (Skyler Thompson and Tim Boyle at QB)
The Cardinals in Week 12 (kind of a coin flip game against a mediocre team)
Not to come down against the Seahawks, but it’s important to highlight a stark contrast betweeen last season’s home team and the one that Carr faced in 2014.
That was the era that gave Seattle its reputation. The Seahawks went 7-1 at home in the regular season, then 2-0 in the playoffs: 6 of those 9 wins were by double-digits. The Seahawks also went 9-1 at home in 2013 and 8-0 at home in 2012, so over those three seasons Seattle went 26-2 at CenturyLink.
The Seahawks lost more games at home in 2024 than they did from 2012-2015 combined (Seattle went 5-3 at home in 2015) including the playoffs!
Lumen Field
Since 2021, the first season that started when the name had been changed, the Seahawks are just 16-18 at home. They haven’t had a home playoff game since 2020, which they lost to the L.A. Rams.
2021: 3-5
2022: 5-4
2023: 5-3
2024: 3-6
Will the “Legion of Boom” return in the region of Lume in 2025?
Seahawks 2025 home schedule
Per Seattle’s 2025 schedule release, here are their home games:
Week 1: 49ers
Week 3: Saints
Week 5: Buccaneers
Week 7: Texans (MNF)
Week 10: Cardinals
Week 13: Vikings
Week 15: Colts
Week 16: Rams (TNF)
How have the Seahawks performed against these NFC teams at home recently?
Cardinals
Seattle has won their last three home games against Arizona (19-9, 20-10, and 16-6) but the Cardinals are one of the NFL’s great mystery bags going into the season.
Rams
The Seahawks have lost four of their last five home games against the Rams, including that wild card loss. The lone win game at the end of the 2022 season when L.A. had lost almost the entire good half of the team to injuries and that was only a 19-16 win … that Seattle desperately needed.
49ers
Three straight home losses to the 49ers, none of them were particularly close: 21-13, 31-13, and 36-24.
Vikings
Seattle lost at home to the Vikings last season, 27-24 to Sam Darnold, another game that the Seahawks needed in order to make the playoffs.
Saints
The Seahawks have lost their last two at home to the Saints, 33-27 in 2019 and 13-10 in 2021, and they’ve lost four in a row to New Orleans.
Bucs
Although Seattle has won their last two at home to Tampa Bay, one of those games was in 2013. These two teams do not meet very often, but the Seahawks won 40-34 in 2019 when it was Russell Wilson vs. Jameis Winston.
Will Seahawks turn around Lumen Field in 2025 and why will they?
Let’s put it to a vote:
If you have a theory on why the Seahawks aren’t as dominant at home recently, or why they will or won’t be better in 2025, tell me in the comments:
Use your phone to comment if you happen to be away from…home.
Seaside Joe 2323
As has been mentioned by several other folks, the Seahawks being better than meh this year generally, and the defense getting stops on 3rd down specifically should bring the crowd back into it again. The crowd feels like they are participating and contributing when they make a God awful racket on 3rd down, and the defense gets a stop. When the defense consistently don't get stops (like the last number of years) it sort of takes the fun out of it......so more and more folks sell their tickets.....to the wrong sort. :(
Getting back to our marauding days is the key. Get them into 3rd and longs, and then get after their asses. Sacks, picks, and big hits. Bring the thunder. Hammer people. That's what people want. They'll hang with the team regardless if they see effort and relentlessness.
It was brought up a few days ago about the game 1 Rams game a couple of years ago. Rams were supposed to be rubbish, but they kicked our butts in the second half, and took the air entirely out of my balloon. It felt like we were struggling the whole rest of the year to get our feet under us. Game 1 this year against the 9'ers sets up differently. The class of the division coming off a season of injuries and misfortune. Nobody will write how pitiful they are in advance of that first game (right Joe?) so they'll be distinct favorites going in. But, Mike MacDonald will have had the entire offseason to prepare, and will not be passive.
What a great start to the season it would be to win emphatically in game 1, like 28-10 or something......holding them under 300 total yards, but getting 200 yards from our RB's (rushing and receiving) and almost 400 total yards from our offense. And we win the turnover battle 2-1, with a pick and a fumble recovery, with Darnold also throwing a pick.
Now, the opposite could happen, and we'll all say 'it's only 1 game', which will of course be true. But winning week 1 would be huge for our playoff chances, and would cement my optimism for the remainder of the season. Hope is a wonderful thing.
I figure by late in the season, Lumen will be rocking while the Hawks D is kicking butt and taking names.
By playoff time, it will once again be a place opponents fear.
Yes, I’ve been drinking my Seahawks Koolade today.