New York Giants brace for post-bye lapse, Qwest Field noise

For the Giants, the message this week is two-fold.

Beware the bye. Beware Qwest Field.

Why the bye? Because, as the Jets taught the world, things don’t always go smoothly after a weekend attending homecoming games, fishing or huntinginstead of concentrating on football. Add to that the fact that Seattle’s fans cause a din that has bothered the Giants, NFC East leaders at 5-2, in the past, and Sunday's game against the NFC West-leading Seahawks (4-3) becomes treacherous (4:05 p.m., FOX).

The bye week factor is just as important as handling the noise.

“That’s always a challenge, not just to come back where you were, but to come back and escalate the quality of your performance,” said coach Tom Coughlin, whose Giants teams are 3-3 after off weeks. “Lift your game to another level. That’s the constant message.”

The Giants will have their earplugs and silent counts at the ready. They still remember 2005, when the Quest Field crowd goaded them into 11 false-start penalties during in an overtime loss. They will undoubtedly be working with amplified crowd noise at their first practice today, in preparation for a stadium that can crank it up to 110 decibels, just 10 fewer than major airports generate.