The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Quinn: Be early, loud
Coach tries to ignite fan enthusiasm for today’s home playoff game.
After the Falcons beat the Saints in the regular-season finale, coach Dan Quinn opened his news conference by recognizing fans for energizing the team by creating a rowdy atmosphere.
“They were there early and loud,” Quinn said.
The next day Quinn again stepped to the podium and began his remarks by praising Falcons supporters.
“I know we asked our guys to set it off on the field, but clearly they had set it off, off (of) the field,” Quinn said.
Later, asked for his memories over two seasons as coach at the Dome, Quinn said it starts with “the enthusiasm of the fans in a city.” In the days since that Jan. 1 Saints game, Quinn frequently has referred to it as a model for Falcons fans.
And after the Seahawks beat the Lions last weekend to set up an NFC divisional playoff showdown Saturday at the Dome, Quinn posted a message to Twitter directed at Falcons supporters.
“We have this game at home because of you, our fans!” Quinn wrote. “Let’s turn up on Saturday!”
If Quinn is trying to coach up Falcons fans, it’s hard to blame
him. The Falcons earned home-field advantage against the Seahawks, but historically, their fans aren’t known for creating an intimidating venue at the Georgia Dome.
At the same time Quinn was rallying his fans on social media, an Internet meme poking fun at their lack of enthusiasm was making the rounds. The meme features a picture of a person attending to an audio mixer and includes the caption: “Falcons’ 12th man.”
The meme refers to an NFL investigation that found the Falcons violated league rules by pumping artificial crowd noise into the Georgia Dome during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The NFL fined the Falcons $300,000, docked them a draft pick and suspended team president Rich McKay from the league’s competition committee.
The meme also is meant to contrast the Falcons with the Seahawks, who refer to their fans at Century Link Field as the “12th man.” The Seahawks own one of the best home-field advantages in the league: They are 34-6 there since the 2012 season.
The Falcons experienced that atmosphere when they lost 26-24 at Seattle on Oct. 16.
“Seattle was definitely one of the loudest stadiums I’ve been in, by far,” Falcons defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman said. “It was definitely one of the hardest arenas to play in because they are so loud. The crowd has so much passion and you can kind of feel that.
“But I feel like this Saturday is going to be as loud. It’s a playoff game. It’s a big game. It will be the same atmosphere for us.”
The Falcons hope for that, and it could happen. Atlanta fans tend to get excited for big games involving the home teams.
But the artificial noise scheme indicates how the Falcons often have struggled to create a natural home-field advantage at the Dome. An Oct. 12, 2014, game against the Bears was another chapter in that saga.
In that game quarterback Matt Ryan was forced to use silent snap counts because of so much noise from Bears fans. At one point Ryan called a timeout because Falcons players couldn’t hear once they lined up and the play clock was close to expiring.
At the time, Ryan said it was “tough” to be disadvantaged at home, but noted that things like that can happen when the Falcons don’t play well. Most home fans had left that game because the Falcons trailed the Bears by two touchdowns and had shown no reason to believe they could come back.
To that point, Quinn has said the Falcons must do their part to generate enthusiasm in the city by winning. The Falcons were 5-3 at the Dome this season and 4-4 in 2015, his first season as coach.
Quinn, a former Seahawks assistant, is calling on Falcons fans to help them win their first playoff game since 2012. “Our crowd is such an advantage for us,” he said. “Our team, we appreciated them the last time against New Orleans. We felt that. They were there early. We want that again. To know how hard it can be to communicate (for opponents) on third down where everything has to be silent and using hand signals.
“We want to pull out all the stops with our crowd and make sure they are there early, and we hear them early.”