Linebacker Daryl Washington (left) and defensive end Calais Campbell tackle Seahawks running back Michael Robinson last season in Seattle.
SEATTLE – Levi Brown does think CenturyLink Field – what the Seahawks' home is now called -- is one of the loudest in the NFL.
Unofficially, it's been called "False Start Field" and the statistics back that up over the years. Brown will be making his fifth trip there Sunday and he's been called for three in four games. But the Cards' left tackle also knows there is a simple antidote to the noise.
"Do something early," Brown said. "It makes a difference. No matter where you go, if you do that, it does quiet down.
"Regardless," Brown added, "do what you got to do."
That means not worrying about it. The Cardinals piped in crowd noise during practice this week like always, but the noise up north has rarely been that big of an issue. In the four games at Seattle in the Ken Whisenhunt tenure, the Cards have been flagged for six false starts, not a terrible number. They had none last year, when the Cards struggled mightily in a 12-point loss that could have been worse.
That day, though, the starting quarterback was rookie Max Hall in his first start away from Arizona. Now they have Kevin Kolb, who not only has more experience but said rating the noise levels – even at a place like Seattle – doesn't really matter.
"If you are on the road, you are on the road," Kolb said. "Every stadium is loud. They hold a bunch of people and you have to be prepared for it."
There will be reason to be loud Sunday. It's the home opener for the Seahawks (0-2), and they will likely raise a banner to commemorate the 2010 NFC West championship. Losing another game, especially in the division, will make hope for this season drain quickly.
Winning the division with a 7-9 record provided an interesting dynamic, and there was still hope the Seahawks were going to build off of the improbable playoff appearance (and a stunning home playoff win over New Orleans, when the noise at CenturyLink definitely made an impact).
"That's not the only thing we are aiming for, division champs, but it's a start," new Seattle quarterback Tarvaris Jackson said. "It would be good to put back-to-back division championships up."
The Seahawks have played poorly so far, though, rushing for just 95 yards total in two games and scoring just 17 points.
The Cardinals (1-1) would like a chance to take back the division crown after having it themselves in 2008 and 2009. Watching the race play out like it did last year – "Team were sitting with horrible, ugly records when we started playing division games, and everyone had a chance to win at the end, even us at 5-11," defensive end Calais Campbell said – cemented the reality division victories are critical.
With the 0-2 Rams hosting the Ravens and the 49ers (1-1) forced to travel cross country to play the suddenly effective Bengals, the Cardinals have a realistic chance to gain ground everywhere.
Then they could make a little noise of their own.
"Anytime the Arizona Cardinals go to Seattle it's a football game," defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said. "We don't care about their record, we don't care about who their quarterback is, we don't care about anything they've done. You go out there, you have to play football. No one on our team is buying into that, 17 points and an 0-2 start. They are going to be fired up."
