Stacy on Seahawks: 2 things to know about primetime games

The NFL admitted something this week.

Mike North, Vice President of Broadcast Planning for the league, joined Peter Schrager’s The Schrager Hour to explain why they’re doing away with Monday Night Football doubleheaders.

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“I don’t know why that didn’t work,” North said. “Quite honestly, I thought it was fine. I thought it was good for us… Having it on Monday, a national broadcast… it just didn’t work. The fans didn’t appreciate it, and it probably wasn’t a good use of an NFL asset.”

Yes, more football in theory is a good thing. But Monday night doubleheaders, shockingly, haven’t been.

This isn’t true for everyone, of course, but I’ve got my own theory here. It’s a little weird, but I think you’ll understand it. The culture of watching football dictates that, even if this game is an awful Browns team against an awful Jets team, we are watching this together.

Don’t give me an out. Don’t make me swap back and forth between the games. I’ve spent hours watching Red Zone, consuming a chaotic brand of football, and now I want to sit back and watch either an amazing shootout between two contenders or the single worst quarterback battle I’ve ever seen. And we’re doing it together, like a reluctant football family. Alright?

Maybe there’s some weird human psychology here (no, really, studies show there is a shared sense of community). A shared experience — brilliant or otherwise — that has you texting your fantasy football thread or scrolling Twitter for hours. When you take your dog out and see the same broadcast light up the otherwise dim living room of a neighbor’s home, you’ll know you’re both watching a godawful 10-7 slugfest between the Broncos and Raiders. If I have to watch a team go 3 for 12 on third down, you do too.

It’s part of the football-watching culture, and it’s sacred.

Anyway, on to the second thing about primetime games: the Seahawks have six of them this year, and five are at home.

My co-host Michael Bumpus and I spent a portion of Thursday’s edition of Bump and Stacy explaining why the Seahawks have a chance to do something big here. Not just win, but win with style: a packed and loud Lumen Field and a hostile environment for visitors.

I know Mike Macdonald does not care what the rest of the league or NFL critics think about the Seahawks. And fans will claim they don’t, either.

But you know what? I don’t fully believe you.

I think players love to have a chip on their shoulder and prove people wrong. Fans do, too. But I also think fans hated seeing so many opponent jerseys and chants at games two years ago. They didn’t love hearing that Arrowhead or Lambeau were “scarier” or “louder” stadiums for visiting teams. There’s something validating about being the best and looking like it, and the Seahawks have a chance this year to do it on the biggest stage five times.

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