Bring back the fear

Visitors used to fear Seahawks Stadium.

That fear is now gone. In 2008, our home record was a miserable 2-6. We managed a mediocre 4-4 in 2009. So far this year, we are 3-1, but that one loss was a humiliating 41-7 blowout at the hands of the New York Giants.

That one loss showed that the team is not yet serious about defending its house.

We once had one of the most formidable home-field advantages in the league.

The 12th Man remains a factor, blasting foes with deafening noise, rattling opposing offenses, and forcing false start penalties.

But the team needs to step up its game to match the intensity of the fans.

We need to dominate at home. We must overpower and destroy any invaders who have the temerity to imagine that they have a chance to prevail in Seattle. Our foes should not exit the stadium under their own power, but carried prone on their shields, with punished bodies and broken spirits, forever scarred by the hellish torment to which we have subjected them.

Today's matchup against Kansas City won't be easy. Like the Seahawks, the Chiefs have come back strong this year after a few seasons of futility, and now lead their division.

The good news is that the Chiefs are 1-4 on the road this year, and have dropped four straight road games. However, Kansas City has been competitive in almost every contest. For example, the Seahawks got blown out in Oakland, but the Chiefs pushed the Raiders to overtime before losing. However, Kansas City and Seattle both share the dubious distinction of letting a bad Broncos team manhandle them at Mile High Stadium.

We have our work cut out for us. Mike Williams remains hurt and probably won't play. Our recent offensive renaissance has depended almost entirely upon passing the ball. If we hope to sustain that, the rest of our receiving corps will need to step up in a big way, including rookie Golden Tate, who returns today from an ankle injury. And, of course, Matt Hasselbeck will have to log a third consecutive week of near perfection.

Some help from the ground game would be welcome. Rookie left tackle Russell Okung played passably last week, but he clearly was not yet 100%. The rest of the offensive line did not have a good week, either, and an injury to left guard Chester Pitts has forced yet another reshuffle of a unit that hasn't been stable all year. If, through some miracle, the line can achieve some chemistry today, take control of the line of scrimmage, and open some holes for our runners, that would help a lot in terms of sustaining drives and maintaining time of possession.

That is, if Marshawn Lynch can shift out of Butterfingers Mode and find Beast Mode once again.

On the other side of the ball, our makeshift defensive line will need to mount a stout defense against Kansas City's tough running attack. Marcus Trufant returns from a concussion to bolster a secondary that must shut down Dwayne Bowe, who has emerged as one of the best deep threats in the league. The Chiefs are stingy with the ball, so Seattle will need creative blitz and pressure packages and suffocating coverage to extort some turnovers today.

Few active players remain from Seattle's AFC West era, but the 12th Man needs to remember how much we hated the Chiefs when we were division rivals, and bring the noise accordingly.