Playing in Seattle: Yo, can you hear me now?
The Eagles have been good at home (4-0) and bad on the road (1-4) this season. Now, they're about to fly across the country to play one of the league's best teams – the 6-2-1 Seahawks – in what might be the loudest stadium in the league.
"The whole 12th man thing there, it's real,'' Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. "The last time I was up there was with the Eagles a few years back. It's a loud place.''
That would be 2011 when he was the Eagles' quarterbacks coach. They went out there for a Thursday night game. Came home 31-14 losers. That was the last time the Eagles have been to Seattle.
The Seahawks are 31-5 at home since 2012. They've lost to a non-division opponent at home just twice during that time.
The Eagles have 15 false-start penalties in their first nine games this season, including five in last week's 24-14 win over the Falcons. That was at the Linc in front of a home crowd that knew enough to shut its mouth when the Eagles were snapping the ball. That won't be the case Sunday at CenturyLink Field.
False-start penalties "are the things that keep your offense from executing and staying on the field,'' Pederson said. "(The Seahawks) definitely feed off of that. They try to get you into second-and-long, third-and-long situations.
"A point of emphasis this week for us obviously is to be able to handle that and minimize those penalties.''
Pederson, who spent much of his youth in Washington state, grew up a Seahawks fan and attended games at the Kingdome, the predecessor to CenturyLink Field.
"That's a championship-caliber football team,'' he said. "So people are going to support it. It's a great fan base up there. As a kid growing up, I was a part of it. My parents took me to Seahawks games. So I've seen it first-hand from a fan's perspective as a kid in high school.
"But I can also recall our days in Kansas City when we were having success at home and going for (the honor of) the loudest crowd in the NFL and that kind of thing.
"These fans are passionate. They love it. They take pride in (their reputation). When we talk about it, they come out in droves again.
"It's a tough place to play. The way that stadium is designed and built, everything's kind of right on top of you.''
Notes: Guard Allen Barbre returned to practice Wednesday after missing the last two games with a hamstring injury. Pederson said Barbre will start Sunday at left guard, which means Stefen Wisniewski goes back to the bench. ... Cornerback Nolan Carroll and wide receiver Jordan Matthews didn't practice Wednesday. Carroll is in the concussion protocol program, and Matthews had back spasms. Pederson said he expects Matthews to play Sunday against Seattle.