MetLife Stadium transformed into CenturyLink Field on Sunday afternoon, and the invasions may only get worse.
In a season full of them, the New York Giants picked up two losses on Sunday afternoon. Not only did they lose the game to the Seattle Seahawks, they also lost MetLife Stadium.
The Meadowlands transformed into CenturyLink Field during Sunday’s game, a 24-7 Seattle win. As the game reached its latter stages, blue began to disappear from the seats, replaced instead by neon green. As their team’s lead increased, Seattle fans marked their territory with their trademark Seahawks chant. Initiated with one group of fans yelling “Sea!” and another group retorting with “Hawks!”, the chants were audible on the CBS broadcast and serve as another embarrassing landmark in the Giants’ season gone horribly awry.
The Giants, already saddled with yet another loss, noticed the commotion as the game went on.
“They were tough. (Seattle was) even throwing the ball, it was tough,” cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie said. “It hurt a little bit. Give credit to those guys. They came out and they took it.”
“We have a great home field advantage,” head coach Ben McAdoo added in a Monday afternoon conference call. “We need to work to take advantage of it.”
Nonetheless, the players acknowledged the invasion was of their own doing.
“Obviously, I would like them to be chanting [for] the Giants, but we got to give them something to chant about. So that’s our responsibility,” linebacker Devon Kennard said. ‘If we’re winning games and if we’re winning that game, that wouldn’t have been the case. So that’s on us.”
Seahawks fans perhaps wouldn’t mind every one of their games being played at MetLife Stadium. With the win, Seattle improved to 5-0 all-time at the modern-day Meadowlands, which includes a 3-0 mark against the Giants. They also have a win each against the New York Jets and Denver Broncos, the latter of which came in their 43-8 victory in Super Bowl XLVIII.
“I like coming out here. Our guys are really fired up to play New York. They respected it,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said. “[It’s all about] the place and the team and all that and they’re fired up about getting out of here with a win.”
The Giants are now 1-6 going into their bye, including a 0-3 mark in East Rutherford. With five home games remaining, the invasions might only get worse, especially considering the opponents coming in. The Giants welcome in the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs in November, and while neither team has a major following in the Northeast, visiting fans may be willing to make the trip due to the playoff implications surrounding each team.
December, however, could be a new nightmare entirely.
The Giants conclude their home slate with visits from their NFC East brethren—Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington—all of whom are in the thick of the NFC playoff picture. The Eagles’ visit on December 17 could be particularly brutal. Quite possibly the NFC’s hottest team, the Week 15 visit could quite possibly clinch the division title, an occasion that would bring out New Jersey’s large Eagles following in droves.
The Giants are coming off a 7-1 record at MetLife last season. They have not gone winless at home since a 0-7 mark in 1974 when they played their home games at the Yale Bowl. They’ve got a lot of work to do if they hope to ensure that history won’t repeat itself.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffMags5490