After reading a number of comments in other threads that a certain team won't win simply because they're the visiting team, it got me thinking...
With fewer (or no) fans in the stands, is there still a home field advantage in the NFL in 2020?
A Google search led me to the article linked below. The article was written prior to the NFL's Week 10 games and it states that...
"From 2002, the year the league expanded to 32 franchises, to 2019, teams won nearly 57 percent of their home games. This year, that percentage is down significantly. Entering Week 10, teams have a 65-67-1 record at home, the lowest win rate over the past 19 seasons."[/i]
This confirmed my suspicion that home field means nothing for NFL teams in 2020.
But then I decided to look at the weeks 10 and 11 games that were not included in the article's analysis (since they hadn't been played yet when it was written) and something interesting happened.
Despite the fact that home teams had only won 49% of their NFL games in weeks 1-9, in the last two weeks (10-11) home teams are 19-8 (70%).
That means with 6 weeks to go in the season, home teams have now won 53% of their 2020 games (compared to the historical winning rate of 57%)...and that's not that far off the norm.
The article states that through week 9 home field had changed from a 3 point spread to just a half a point. But now that the home team winning percentage is up to 53%, who knows what that number is now.
I was also curious what Seattle's home/away record is for 2020, since they have historically had a big home field advantage AND the Giants have to play in Seattle in two weeks.
This year Seattle is 5-0 at home and 2-3 on the road, meaning, that despite not having their big crowds, they still have a significant home field advantage in Seattle.
So what do you think? Is there still a home field advantage for NFL teams in 2020?
Home Field Advantage - (
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That's just this season though. Since they implemented the byes, teams coming off them have won at a 65% clip.
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Everyone assumes it is an advantage. Teams were 12-11 entering Sunday or maybe after the 1 o'clock games.
That's just this season though. Since they implemented the byes, teams coming off them have won at a 65% clip.
Of course. I'm just talking about this season. It is very curious to me as to why. You figure a season with basically no offseason work would mean that a bye week would be extra important to teams this year.
How that pertains to home field or the bye situation, I don't know.
2020 works in mysterious ways:)
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In comment 15054555 robbieballs2003 said:
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Everyone assumes it is an advantage. Teams were 12-11 entering Sunday or maybe after the 1 o'clock games.
That's just this season though. Since they implemented the byes, teams coming off them have won at a 65% clip.
Of course. I'm just talking about this season. It is very curious to me as to why. You figure a season with basically no offseason work would mean that a bye week would be extra important to teams this year.
Some of the "byes" this year were do to Covid so those teams had very little contact/practice.
Without fans, the home teams actually have 1 more flag than their opponents per game.
Without fans, the home teams actually have 1 more flag than their opponents per game.
The big one is weather now. Warm weather teams traveling to cold places. Advantage is with Cards. Also that road trip to SEA is less daunting now, but with that defensive line beefed up bad matchup stylistically for us.
Secondly, sleeping in a hotel short term and living out of a bag before getting out to play football, especially on the opposite coast, must be a challenge- especially for guys who are 300 pounds and 6 and a half feet tall. For these guys, I can imagine that there is nothing like a good night's sleep in your own bed, something these guys are deprived of the night before a road game.
I'm relying on questionable memory so I'm sure you're correct.
A post-bye week loss was almost a given in the TC era. Since then there have been so many losses it's hard to distinguish a post-bye week loss from all the other "the Giants suck this year" losses.
Hopefully based on what's in the news and the NFL calendar stadiums can be close to full in September of 2021 and we can have whatever the new normal will be with lots of people watching.
For example: It is a lot easier to host a Thanksgiving dinner at your own house, than to travel for hours and then cook and host Thanksgiving dinner at the house of a friend who is currently traveling.
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Seattle in 5-0 at home this year and 2-3 on the road.
It would help if the team did their part and gave the fans something to make noise about in recent years. I went to a few games in the new stadium where the crowd was loud. 2016 Ravens and Redskins home games to name a few and of course the Falcons playoff game in early 2012.
Hard to get on your feet and start screaming when the LA Rams have 50 or something points on your team.
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who often had an advantage due to the crowd. In our stadium, it really does not matter as much because its construction has essentially limited some of the fan interference with the opposition. Plus... we are not a loud crowd in the first place
Seattle in 5-0 at home this year and 2-3 on the road.
Seattle also went 7-1 on the road last year and were 4-4 at home.
That aside, I do think that HFA does not exist this year. I think teams are able to execute their offenses, espcially 2 minutes much more effectively without having to go silent count or anything like that.
Silet count also helps the D get off the ball faster.