The Sound Has Effects in Seattle

"We're way up here in the top corner" of the United States, Seahawks cornerback Kelly Herndon said. "Other teams have to fly 3,000 miles, and it's tough to get off the plane after a flight like that and get ready."

While the Seahawks boasted one of the NFL's most daunting home-field advantages during their days in the Kingdome -- particularly when the franchise fielded some strong teams in the mid-1980s -- the outdoor facility has brought more of a Johnny-come-lately fan base. The team struggled to sell out Qwest Field during its first three seasons in the outdoor facility, but lately the Seahawks are the hottest ticket in town. The remaining tickets to Saturday's game sold out 10 minutes after they went on sale Monday morning.

People in Seattle again have taken pride in the 12th Man philosophy, which reached its peak in the 1980s. In 1984, team retired jersey No. 12 in honor of its fans.

"The fans have really started to embrace the 12th Man," said cornerback Marcus Trufant, who grew up in nearby Tacoma during the Seahawks' initial heyday. "There are 12th Man jerseys, signs, stuff like that. Everybody's really buying into it. That's helping us on offense. And on defense, the crowd gets behind us and gets everybody fired up and makes you play better."

Sometimes the atmosphere gets so crazy that even the Seahawks' players have trouble adjusting.

The Giants game was a perfect example, with so much noise cascading through the stadium that the Seahawks' defenders sometimes had trouble communicating with each other.

"It was hard on defense to even make our calls," Trufant said. "But the Giants were jumping offside and all that, and that just shows how good our fans are and how rough it is for the opposing team to come in here and feel comfortable.

"When the fans are on [an opponent's] back all day, that makes it hard."

The crowd may have had an effect on the Giants' Feely, who missed from 40 yards at the end of regulation and twice more in overtime.

"They never gave up on us," Darby said. "I mean, the game was over. All they had to do was make one field goal. But they missed three of them. That's the 12th Man."

Part of what makes Qwest Field unique, from an architectural perspective, is that the stands are close to the field behind both end zones. On the north end, only about five or 10 yards separate the back of the end zone from a section that serves as home to the Seahawks' most spirited fans -- Seattle's version of the Oakland Raiders' Black Hole, if you will. The turf surrounding the south end zone is bordered by field-level suites that have become infamous for being included in several touchdown celebrations, the most notable of which came when San Francisco's Terrell Owens handed a ball to a his financial adviser in an end zone suite after signing it with a Sharpie pen he pulled from his sock.

"For an outdoor stadium, it's as loud as you can get, especially down in that [north] end zone," said Fisher, who first played at Qwest Field as a member of the St. Louis Rams. "Our fans are closer to the field than some of the other stadiums."

While three of the four road teams won first-round games over the weekend, including the Redskins at Tampa Bay, the Seahawks believe that their home-field advantage could help reverse the result of the teams' first meeting this season, a 20-17 Washington win Oct. 2.

"The crowd is nuts," Trufant said. "They go crazy for us, and they make it hard for the other team to focus."

Just ask the New York Giants.