Don’t doubt for a moment that the home-field advantage in the NFL is real. Since 1990, the home teams in the league win nearly 60 percent of the time.
The Atlanta Falcons are about to set out on a stretch of four road games in five weeks that will more than test their road mettle.
Stadium atmospheres vary around the league. But the Falcons will play in three of the toughest stadiums in the NFL over this stretch, starting with Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders, where they must contend with the notorious Black Hole, Section 105 of the Oakland Coliseum.
The Raiders game will be followed by a Monday Night game in New Orleans, a home game against Carolina and then trips to Denver and Seattle.
Oakland was rated as the 14th worst place to play on the road in a recent 247sports.com poll. Denver is rated fourth and Seattle as the No. 1 toughest place to play in the league.
“We’re excited about having our (home) opener with Atlanta coming in,” Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said.
Around the league in the opening week, the home team won seven games while the road team won nine.
The Falcons have adjusted their road routine this week and will leave for Oakland on Friday, a day earlier than a normal road game, in order to adjust to the time change.
In mid-October, they’ll be staying out West for over a week. After playing in Denver on Oct. 9, the Falcons are scheduled to spend the following week practicing in the Seattle area before meeting the Seahawks on Oct. 16.
“We’ll have a walk-through Saturday (in Oakland),” Quinn said. “The good news for us is we know it’s going to be a loud environment and we’ll get the crowd noise cranked up here for our practice and work (on our) silence cadence.”
When the schedule was released in April, the Falcons went right to work on travel plans. They also have games in Tampa Bay (29th toughest stadium), Philadelphia (seventh), Los Angeles (32nd) and Carolina (10th).
“We’ve kind of planned on that,” Quinn said. “We’ve had some periods where we’ve already done that (coped with extra noise) through camp and even through practice last week, just so we’re getting real comfortable in those high pressure moments where it’s all no-huddle and use of hand signals and silence cadence.”
In some stadiums, it’s the fans that make the environment intimidating, like in Seattle with their vaunted 12th Man. Elsewhere, like in Denver, visiting teams must also battle the altitude. For other teams, like Green Bay or Chicago, it could be the weather.
Last season, the Falcons were 4-4 on the road with wins over the New York Giants, Dallas, Tennessee and Jacksonville.
Players deal with the challenges of playing on the road differently.
“You have to find a way to establish your routine,” Falcons safety Ricardo Allen said. “You know how everybody has their routine when they come out on their own field. You just get comfortable being at home because you’re used to being at home. That’s the biggest thing, because you’re out of your comfort zone.”
Some players try to change the atmosphere with music. They’ll wear headsets while warming up early and try to block out their unfamiliar surroundings.
“You have to go out there and get in your zone and know what you’re there for,” Allen said. “If you take it like that, go out there and do your routine, you are on the field with a football, playing on some grass with your boys. You do it every day at practice. It shouldn’t be anything different.
“Yeah, there are going to be fans booing. Yeah, it’s going to be fans cheering. But at the end of the day, it’s football. It’s what we do.”
Raider fans in the Black Hole section are notorious for rude behavior toward fans wearing opposing team jerseys. While the Raiders haven’t been serious Super Bowl contenders for nearly a decade, the atmopshere is always emotionally charged on game day.
“As far as just going down there, it’s about just getting prepared,” Falcons cornerback Robert Alford said, “going over film with the coaches and trusting in the coaches and the things that they are telling us the Raiders will run.”
There is always a circle-the-wagons mentality when NFL teams travel.
“Of course, once we are on the field, it’s just us,” Alford said. “We are family here and we have each other’s back, so we are not really worrying about all of the other festivities that are going on.”
Not only will the Falcons have to contend with the rowdy Raiders fans. After years of wallowing near the bottom of the league, the Raiders’ fortunes on the field are finally looking upward.
“I think everything you see about the Raiders, this is the year for them to take a giant step forward,” ESPN analyst Jon Gruden said. “It’s about time that Oakland, I think, backs it up.”
Del Rio is in his third season and the Raiders have emerging stars in quarterback Derek Carr, wide receiver Amari Cooper and defensive end Khalil Mack.
“Most importantly, they’ve solidified the offensive line,” Gruden said. “They brought in (guard Rodney) Hudson. They brought in the big guard from the Ravens (Kelechi Osemele). They’ve got Donald Penn, the old guy from Tampa. This is a salty group that can run the rock with (Latavius) Murray.”
The Falcons have their bags packed.
“We’re going to execute like we can and to use the phrase, we’re going to do what we do,’’ Quinn said. “We’re going to execute better and do what we do better. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
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