Tomorrow is perhaps the best chance this season for my new Seahawks banner (see photo) to fulfill its primary game day duty. At -7.5 points according to ESPN, the Seahawks (1─1) are heavy favorites over the visiting New Orleans Saints (0─2). So no more waiting. At kickoff time, the banner will be mounted in place doing its best to help the team win, although the weather forecast (rain) shows little need for its secondary purpose.
I ordered the banner online about two weeks ago, and it got here in time for game 2 of the 2025 NFL season. Seattle was on the road against Pittsburg after a disappointing loss at home to San Francisco in their season opener. Rather than deploying the banner for the first time for an uphill battle, I kept it in the mailing envelope.
I should have had more faith in the team and the banner. Seattle won handily. The team outplayed the Steelers in just about every area, got a gift touchdown on a mishandled kickoff, and made Aaron Rodgers look his age (41). The banner would have gotten off to a great start.
Let’s be clear. Hanging up a banner doesn’t make your team win. But it does demonstrate team support, and that can lead to the team playing better. To me, that means having a good game plan and doing your best to carry it out. Not to pile on here, but it also means minimizing costly penalties and, hopefully, avoiding serious injuries. That’s all a casual fan like me can ask for.
According to a disappointing statistic, recent Seahawks teams have lost their once enviable home field advantage (only 3─7 at Lumen Field since the start of the 2024 season). Can the new banner help overcome that trend during its first game day deployment as well as inspire the Seahawks to play well? That’s (mostly) up to the Gods of Football.
Concerning the banner’s secondary purpose (blocking the sun’s glare on my Vizio TV), that’s already been tested several times during this sunny month of September. It’s a winner.
Mud Bay Blog 