Giants hoping to turn deaf ear to noisy Seattle crowd

Rocky Bernard played the first seven years of his NFL career in Seattle. He'd seen dozens of teams come to the Pacific Northwest and struggle in the loud atmosphere that fans of the Seahawks take immense pride in. What team did he think was the most flustered by the noise?

"It would probably be the Giants," he said Wednesday with a chuckle. "That was probably the most I've ever seen."

In 2005 the Giants traveled to Seattle and committed 16 penalties in a 24-21 overtime loss. Eleven of those penalties were false starts against the offense. It wasn't so much the Seahawks that beat the Giants that day, it was their fans (although Jay Feely missing what would have been three game-winning field goals did little to bail the team out that day). Guard Chris Snee remembered the noise when asked about that game earlier this week.

"I had never seen anything like it," he said. Snee might not have been able to actually see the noise, but it probably felt that way.

The Giants are going back to Qwest Field this week, a stadium in which both of their previous visits have been as miserable as the rainy weather normally associated with Seattle. They match up well against the Seahawks, a team that is 4-3 and is coming off a smackdown by the Raiders. The equalizer for the Seahawks, though, will be the crowd. Which is why Tom Coughlin has told the players that they need to be prepared for not only Xs and Os, but decibels.

"Poise in the noise," he said, "is a big factor."

The stadium will no doubt be loud at the start of the game. The Giants think they can turn the volume down, though, by playing well early, jumping out to a strong start.

That may not be as easy as it sounds (if the Giants are able to hear anything at all). Among the most impressive statistics that the Seahawks have piled up in their three home games - all wins - is that 11 of their 12 takeaways have come at Qwest Field. And they have allowed a mere six points combined in the first halves of their home games, none since the 49ers kicked a pair of field goals in a season-opening trouncing by the home team.

In short, they give their fans something to cheer about.

"It's not going to freak us out," Eli Manning said. "We're not over-stressing it. You have to be prepared for it and understand that there are going to be some communication [issues]. We're going to have to take our time, walk up and down a little bit, but that's in a lot of places. We've dealt with it in a lot of other stadiums. It's nothing new for us."

Seattle, though, is very different. At least the players there seem to think it is.

"When we were at home, it didn't matter who we were playing," Bernard said of his tenure in Seattle. "I do believe that the energy of the place lets you play harder or makes you focus better . . . When I was out there we definitely took full advantage of it."

Bernard said some of the offensive linemen approached him at yesterday's practice to go over some issues they'll encounter, not only with Seattle's defensive linemen but also on how best to counter the crowd noise. "All of them have played there before, so they know what it's going to be like," Bernard said. "I didn't have to explain that to them."

The Giants will be without center Shaun O'Hara, further handicapping their communication. Adam Koets likely will start at center for the fourth time this season. But getting the play to the center is usually not a problem. It's passing it along to the players further away from the ball that can get tricky. Manning insisted that won't be an issue.

"We'll be fine," he said. He can just hope that the rest of the Giants heard him.