The Seattle Seahawks have been the NFL’s best road team since Mike Macdonald took over as head coach last season.
After another win away from Lumen Field on Sunday against the Titans, the Seahawks improved to a league-best 12-2 in road contests since the start of last season. They’re now 5-1 on the road this season, which trails only the New England Patriots’ 6-0 road record.
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But Sunday’s game in Nashville, Tenn., against the struggling Titans didn’t have the feel of road game outside of the 10 a.m. Pacific kickoff. The crowd was full of Seahawks fans, which could be heard very well on the FOX TV and Seattle Sports radio broadcasts.
Head coach Mike Macdonald and the Seahawks were well aware of the way Seahawks fans turned out on Sunday. Macdonald acknowledged the support they received with a shoutout to the fan base Monday during his weekly conversation with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.
“That was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen, them traveling from all over,” Macdonald said. “… I must have had multiple people tell me that people are coming from Arizona and the plane was filled with 12s. That’s crazy, right? (General manager) John (Schneider) was saying that his plane – they came down early to scout – their whole plane was filled with 12s and they’re (chanting) ‘Sea-hawks’ on the plane on the way to Nashville. I’ve never heard anything like that before, and they were incredible yesterday, just came out in waves.”
Macdonald said the amount of Seahawks fans in the crowd Sunday had the team thinking it was possible the Titans’ offense would have to go to a silent count in its own home stadium.
“They didn’t have to, but what an absolute just incredible showing by the 12th man,” Macdonald said. “Just so much respect. Thank you. That was big time. It was awesome, and our guys loved it. They were talking about it. So that was really cool.”
The Seahawks’ fan base is known for being loud. Lumen Field for years has carried a reputation as one of the toughest places to play in the league, with road teams regularly committing an inordinate amount of false starts due to the deafening noise coming from the stands.
Macdonald shared what his perception of the fan base was before arriving in the Pacific Northwest.
“The perception is like, look, we don’t want to go over there. We don’t want to go to Seattle,” said Macdonald, who was an NFL assistant coach with the Baltimore Ravens for all but one season from 2014-23. “… And that’s because of the environment that they create. And then (the) reality is it’s real and they’re hungry for a great team and for a team that I think brings energy and is representative of the things that are important to them – sticking together and being tough, resilient, and playing great defense, which is what we’re trying to do.”
Hear The Mike Macdonald Show with Brock and Salk at 9:30 a.m. the day after Seahawks games. Catch Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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