Tag: empty stadium

No fans allowed at CenturyLink Field when Seahawks host 49ers Week 8

As COVID-19 cases rise around the country, the Seattle Seahawks have decided no fans will be allowed in the stadium Week 8 against the 49ers.

The Seattle Seahawks made a difficult decision Thursday morning, announcing that the team’s next scheduled home game will be played without spectators in the stands due to continued concerns over the spread of the coronavirus.

The Seahawks issued the statement via their Twitter account.

“We have made the decision that our November 1 home game will move forward without fans in attendance,” the tweet read. “We will continue to keep fans updated on future decisions.”

The Seahawks are still set to host the 49ers on Sunday, November 1 at 1:25 p.m. PT at CenturyLink Field, however, the stands will be empty.

The following home games remain on Seattle’s schedule following the bout with San Francisco Week 8:

Week 11 – November 19 vs. Cardinals

Week 13 – December 6 vs. Giants

Week 14 – December 13 vs. Jets

Week 16 – December 27 vs. Rams

[lawrence-related id=68329]

Did an atmosphere without fans impact Seahawks’ win in Atlanta?

Many NFL teams are playing in empty stadiums due to the coronavirus; did an atmosphere without fans impact the Seahawks’ win in Atlanta?

The Seattle Seahawks beat the Atlanta Falcons on the road Week 1 and they did it in a stadium without fans. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, most NFL teams are playing in front of no audiences for at least the first few games of the season. So is there any truth to home-field advantage?

Coach Pete Carroll talked about the atmosphere and notching a win at an empty Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday.

“It was different but it didn’t matter – it didn’t matter to the game,” coach Pete Carroll said during his press conference after the win. “You know, like I say, we were on the road and we didn’t have a crowd screaming at us, either, but like way back when, I always felt like this was going to work out okay because the guys don’t really – they don’t play for the fans on game day. They play the game the way they are supposed to, and there was enough juice and energy there that, you know, it was really fun.”

Granted the “crowd noise” that was pumped into the stadium and broadcast made a huge difference to the viewing audience but Carroll and the players were just glad to be back on the field and playing the game of football.

“It was really a fun game, and locker room was cool before the game, at halftime and after the game, you know, all that good stuff that we love to — we share all the energy, the build up of the game and the finish,” Carroll continued. “It was all there. It’s more exciting, I guess, there’s more atmosphere, of course, but when these guys are playing, they have got to go. The competition on the field was really, really good, both sides.”

The Seahawks will get their next shot to play in front of an empty stadium when they return home Week 2 to face the Patriots for “Sunday Night Football” at CenturyLink Field. Perhaps Seattle will realize just how important the 12s are when the Seahawks take on Cam Newton in primetime.

[lawrence-related id=67139]

Texans coach Bill O’Brien: ‘We’ll play football at some point’

Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien believes football will return, but the chief focus has to be preserving quality of life and saving lives.

The NFL is mulling over ideas on how to play the 2020 schedule despite the complications arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even though the NFL will conduct its annual draft on April 23-25 in a virtual setting, even teams are staying away from their facilities for social distancing purposes, Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien believes life will return to normal and there will be football eventually.

However, the seventh-year coach doesn’t want to rush matters and endanger lives at the expense of kicking the ball off the tee in September.

“In my opinion, just my opinion, before we let people back into stadium and things like that, we better have the testing down, we better be on our way to a vaccine,” O’Brien told the Houston media on a conference call on April 16. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to move forward until we have a better grasp of the whole thing.”

The COVID-19 pandemic’s effect has been unequally distributed. For instance, according to Worldometers, the state of New York leads the United States with 241,041 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of 12:40 a.m. ET on April 18. However, the state of Texas only has 18,679 cases. Minnesota is the only state with an NFL team and the fewest number of cases at 2,213.

What if states such as Texas and Minnesota are the next hot spots waiting to happen?

Said O’Brien: “We can’t be in a rush. I think life as we know it is going to change and we can’t be in a rush. We’ll play football at some point. We will definitely play football. When that is, who knows, but we’ll just keep doing what we have to do to stay up with the competition and when they tell us to get ready to play, we’ll try to get ready to play.”

In the meantime, O’Brien, who is now the fourth full-time general manager in Texans history, is enjoying the simple things in life during the social distancing period, including spending more time with his family and working on improving the Texans’ roster from the back patio of his Houston home.

When the world is back to normal, O’Brien, the Texans, and the rest of the NFL hope to be back to football.