Campbell expects Ford Field to be louder than Arrowhead Sunday

Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell believes Ford Field will be loudest it’s ever been in the team’s home opener vs. the Seattle Seahawks.

The Detroit Lions have begun preparations for their home opener against the Seattle Seahawks, and the excitement is palpable around the city. So much so that coach Dan Campbell said on Monday that he expects it to be louder than it was at Arrowhead Stadium last week during the season opener.

“I’m expecting it to be loud,” Campbell said. “I know what Arrowhead is—and it was loud. I expect it to be louder than that. I really do. I just know our fans. It’ll be to the point where you can’t hear yourself think.”

Arrowhead would be a tough place to beat in terms of crowd noise. They are largely considered the loudest stadium in the NFL, and in 2014 during a “Monday Night Football” contest, they set the Guinness World Record for noise at 142.2 decibels. Ford Field is not currently considered a top-10 stadium in crowd noise.

That said, it can get quite loud there and fan excitement has not been this high in some time. The Lions sold out season tickets this year for the first time in the Ford Field era, and the fans are riding high after the team took down the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs last week. They even forced the Giants to use a silent count during the preseason last month.

Campbell said he saw the potential of how loud Ford Field could get back when he played his first game at Ford Field as a Lion back in 2006. Coincidentally, it was against the Seahawks.

“I just remember, I was not expecting that. It was loud,” Campbell said. “It was loud, and I had been (in) some loud places and been around, and I was not expecting that. That was my first eye-opener to, ‘Wow. We get some wins here and this place will really be on fire.’”

The last time the Lions were able to really string some wins together was back in 2016—the last year they made the playoffs. And, sure enough, that was when Ford Field ever got the loudest. Per team president Rod Wood, the stadium reached 121.1 decibels during the fourth quarter of a 20-17 win over Washington.

UPDATE: Per a team source, Ford Field actually got slightly louder in 2022. During the Week 2 matchup against the Commanders, the decibel raised to 126.1. That’s the mark to beat for Sunday.

With expectations higher than ever, I wouldn’t be surprised if Detroit set a new mark on Sunday. Louder than Arrowhead, though? We’ll have to wait and see on that.