Macdonald lauds Seattle Seahawks fans

One question heading into this season was whether the Seattle Seahawks could recapture their home-field advantage at Lumen Field.

While the Seahawks matched a franchise record with a 7-1 mark on the road last year, they went just 3-6 at Lumen Field, which was their worst home record since 2008. To put that in perspective, the Seahawks lost just six home games combined over their dominant five-year run from 2012-16, back when Seattle was widely considered the toughest place to play in the NFL.

Where Seahawks’ No. 1 seed odds stand after epic win

This year, the Seahawks seem to have fixed their home-field struggles.

In addition to sitting 6-1 on the road with two road games remaining, Seattle wrapped up a 6-2 home slate this season with Thursday night’s dramatic 38-37 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams. Trailing by 16 points with less than 10 minutes to play, the Seahawks staged a stunning comeback that gave them the inside track to both the NFC West title and the NFC’s No. 1 seed.

During his weekly conversation with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Friday morning, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald praised Hawks fans for creating an “incredible atmosphere” for the franchise’s biggest game in years.

“I’ve never been a part of that before,” Macdonald said. “I mean, normally I’m not really thinking about the environment, or you’re just kind of thinking about what we have to do (on the field). But there were multiple times throughout the game (when) I was like, man, this is incredible.

“Even when we’re facing death at our doorstep there in the fourth quarter, like, we get a stop and we’re kicking it off and I actually said in the headset, like, man, guys, this is freaking awesome. Like, you’ve gotta love this. So yeah, it was just an incredible atmosphere.”

While Thursday night was the Seahawks’ regular-season home finale, their dramatic victory over the Rams put them in position to potentially claim home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

If the Seahawks win their final two games on the road against the Carolina Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers, they would secure the NFC’s top seed – which would mean the conference’s path to the Super Bowl would run through the Emerald City.

“Our guys needed a little pick-me-up, and they got it, and then we kind of just got rolling at that point,” Macdonald said. “We talk about ’12 as one,’ and it really is ’12 as one.’ It’s us and the 12s all working together.

“That’s the vision we want to have,” he added. “This is what we’ve been trying to make come to life this whole time, and we’ve gotta keep it going.”

Hear the full conversation with Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald in the video at the top of this story. The Mike Macdonald Show airs at 9:30 a.m. on Brock and Salk the day after Seahawks games.

Macdonald lauds Seattle Seahawks fans

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