ESPN:Home-field advantage in NFL: Toughest places to play

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...fl-2017-toughest-easiest-teams-play-road-more

Baltimore and Seattle are the two toughest places to play on the road. Regardless of how we calculate the numbers, the Ravens and Seahawks consistently rank among the organizations that improve most dramatically at home. If we calculate this by sheer winning percentage as opposed to point differential, as an example, the Ravens have the largest home-field advantage in the league since 2007, winning 72.5 percent of their games at home but just 40 percent on the road. The Seahawks are third, with the Vikings splitting the two.

Picking between them is tough, but I would say narrowly that the Seahawks have the best home-field advantage, in part because their home crowd might have kept Seattle afloat at times. There have been eight seasons since 2007 in which a team has enjoyed an observed home-field advantage of 10 points or more, and the Seahawks are the only team with more than one of those seasons to their name, with the 2009 and 2012 teams topping double-digits.

I believe that our best chances to reach the SB is to try to have #1 seed in NFC. Last year, we were too casual in some games and ended up giving away many wins. We also struggled through lots of self inflicted issues such as lack of attention to O-Line, inconsistent RB plays and poor kicking game.
I hope those have been corrected and that we will win the games we are expected to win to reach the #1 seed.

Interesting. I would have guessed Seattle, New England (because of their ridiculous record, not the noise factor) and Green Bay would be the toughest spots to play on the road.
And SF at #4??? huh??? Been to 3 games there, not only was 30 percent or more of the crowd Hawks Fans, but it's rarely loud at all.

Although "we" want the credit as fans, I also feel simple geography effects and augments our advantage. When we play on the road, it's on the road. Early starts and frequent cross country trips make it more difficult to win on the road, bolstering our HFA. I imagine the same could be said for San Francisco.

rjdriver":1aocjahq said:

Although "we" want the credit as fans, I also feel simple geography effects and augments our advantage. When we play on the road, it's on the road. Early starts and frequent cross country trips make it more difficult to win on the road, bolstering our HFA. I imagine the same could be said for San Francisco.

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Exactly this and also true for opponents. For most teams this is the longest trek.

SoulfishHawk":1wu4m8vv said:

And SF at #4??? huh??? Been to 3 games there, not only was 30 percent or more of the crowd Hawks Fans, but it's rarely loud at all.

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He talks about it in the article. Mainly they get their juice from their 80's hay day.

"The 49ers, though? They have to be a surprise, right? You would figure that the last days of Candlestick would be pushing San Francisco up toward the top of the charts, and indeed, the 49ers had an observed HFA of 3.8 points per game in their longtime home between 2007 and 2013. Despite the complaints about the move to Santa Clara and the franchise bottoming out during the past few years, though, the 49ers have kept things up, as their home-field advantage at Levi's Stadium has been good for an even 4.0 points per contest. I don't believe it, either."


Just think even when the Seahawks were bad they would still win games at home.


This article really shows how much a defense can gain from home field advantage. Both the early 2000's Ravens and current Seahawks have pass rushers that can get to a whole new level when the crowd is rockin.

Leave it to ESPN to use outdated stats to make a ridiculous statement that SF is top 5 toughest to play stadiums. :roll:

Pooof.....that is the ESPN sound of irrelevance getting wiped off the map.

It's gonna' be tough to beat the Niners when they have Joe Montana behind center this year.

SoulfishHawk":b9l7krs6 said:

It's gonna' be tough to beat the Niners when they have Joe Montana behind center this year.

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Hey, now people are sleeping on that 49ers defense. Charles Haley, Ronnie Lott, Matt Millen they had the leagues 3rd best scoring defense.

Really gonna' be tough to win against that D. I'm just as nervous about playing at Dallas. Michael Irvin and Troy Aikman could really be a tough matchup.

SoulfishHawk":3slfjfue said:

Really gonna' be tough to win against that D. I'm just as nervous about playing at Dallas. Michael Irvin and Troy Aikman could really be a tough matchup.

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They'll never get the chance. Ground Chuck is going to pound the rock with Curt Warner until Tom Landry takes his ball and goes home.

Seems like the Hawks should use Dan Doornink more in this game.

Yep. Dr. Dan when not making house calls is out converting 3rd and long just like every week. :2thumbs:

Did you see that Kingdome wave last week against Mr Ed that went for like 4 minutes??

SoulfishHawk":2nnnhoel said:

Interesting. I would have guessed Seattle, New England (because of their ridiculous record, not the noise factor) and Green Bay would be the toughest spots to play on the road.
And SF at #4??? huh??? Been to 3 games there, not only was 30 percent or more of the crowd Hawks Fans, but it's rarely loud at all.

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Recent history is too biasing for you.

SF at home from '07 to '14 was noticeably better than on the road.

Last time Niners lost on MNF at home was 2010 against the defending champ Saints, barely. If the game mattered and the team was down, being at home has usually counted for something.

The HFA ranking is on the spread not how great the team is. I'd say the Candlestick advantage was more pronounced in that effect during the last 10 or so years than during the Montana/Young era, esp. when you factor in the ridiculous road dominance those old teams had.

Is this article about the PAST??? Or is it about the CURRENT Home Field Advantage.
I realize you Niner fans like to talk about ring 2 decades plus ago, but come on. There is no Niner "faithful" at that stadium. It's half empty by mid 3rd quarter with regularity. That being said, sure back in the 90's it was a hell of a hard place to play.

Anyone who was at the 2005 NFC champ game knows that we have the best hfa ever
Never have I hears noise that loud and likely never will from any stadium or jetliner
Thing of fricken beauty

My Dad is still emotionally scarred from going to that Giants home game where they had 5 False starts.

I also remember it being really damned loud in the Kingdome. Problem was a lot of our teams weren't good back then. Fiesty, yes. Talented, not always.

Old stats, new stats, whichever. There's still a huge difference between a team with a legitimate home field advantage, and one that just really sucks on the road. The difference between "Oh crap, we have to go to Seattle for that game!" and "Hey hey, the 49ers are coming to town!" are pretty vast.

Seahawk Sailor":2344fdk1 said:

Old stats, new stats, whichever. There's still a huge difference between a team with a legitimate home field advantage, and one that just really sucks on the road. The difference between "Oh crap, we have to go to Seattle for that game!" and "Hey hey, the 49ers are coming to town!" are pretty vast.

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Let's just look at the 49ers at HOME in the division since 2009:

2009:

Cardinals - Win
Rams - Win
Seahawks - Win

2010:

Cardinals - Win
Rams - Win
Seahawks - Win

2011:

Cardinals - Win
Rams - Win
Seahawks - Win

2012:

Cardinals - Win
Rams - Tie
Seahawks - Win

2013:

Cardinals - Win
Rams - Win
Seahawks - Win

2014:

Cardinals - Win
Rams - Loss
Seahawks - Loss

2015:

Cardinals - Loss
Rams - Win
Seahawks - Loss

2016:

Rams - Win
Cardinals - Loss
Seahawks - Loss

So basically they only conceded to the Seahawks at home in 2014.

Cardinals took another year.

Rams won a game they shouldn't have that Kaepernick gave away at the goal line.

The article quotes from 2007 till present day, and the Niners often play well at home.

If you just look at season openers alone the last several years, they've easily been the best home team in week 1 even with the last two being garbage seasons.

Another way to look at it is when the team is not good, playing at home makes them somewhat competitive. They brought fight to games in recent years at home against Atlanta, New England, etc.

And what of that week 17 game last year against the Seahawks? Did Pete ask the guys to take it easy that day? :mrgreen: