Tag: homefield advantage

Recapturing homefield advantage will be key for Saints in 2024

The Saints have won just a dozen home games since Drew Brees retired. Recapturing that homefield advantage will be critical to their success in 2024:

How many games do you think the New Orleans Saints have won since Drew Brees retired after the 2020 season? It’s been three years, and the Saints have been at home for 25 contests during that span. The Caesars Superdome was once a fearsome venue for visiting teams, and the Saints still have a reputation as a squad that benefits from the Who Dat Nation’s raucous homefield advantage.

But check the numbers and you’ll see that narrative doesn’t hold much water. The Saints have gone 12-13 at home from 2021 to 2023, winning just a dozen games since Brees hunt up his cleats. That’s a winning percentage of .480 — which ranks 23rd among the NFL’s 32 teams, including the playoffs.

The Saints actually have a better record away from home. When playing outside New Orleans, they’re 13-13 over the last three years. A .500 win percentage may not be impressive in itself, but that ties them for ninth-best along with four other teams. Of the 13 teams who are .500 or better on the road in this span, only the Saints and Indianapolis Colts have failed to make the playoffs at least once.

So we know the Saints can compete away from the Caesars Superdome. Why can’t they win games in front of their own home crowd? Maybe it’s the quality of competition or just bad luck. We could be making too much out of it. After all, their record at home (12-13) isn’t much different from their road record (13-13). They’re a near-.500 team at any venue. But that’s the problem. Most teams play worse on the road than at home; the Saints are one of just six teams with a higher win percentage away from home. They’re fighting hard away from the Superdome, but not winning the games they should be when at home.

That must change in 2024. If they’re going to end this playoffs drought, the Saints need to stack up wins at the Superdome over weaker teams like the Denver Broncos, Washington Commanders, and Las Vegas Raiders as well as their division rivals. They can’t afford to trip up and take an embarrassing loss (like happened last year when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked away with a win after a 26-9 blowout). This year, the Saints will play nine home games in New Orleans for the first time since the regular season expanded to 17 games. Stepping up in big moments at home while remaining competitive on the road is their path to a successful 2024 campaign.

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Two Big Ten teams on Joel Klatt’s top 5 toughest places to play in college football

Joe Klatt ranks the top five college football environments.

The Big Ten is one of the toughest conferences in college football, with some of the toughest environments in college football.

FoxSports football analyst Joel Klatt ranked his top five home-field advantages in college football. Two programs from the Big Ten made the list.

Klatt ranks Penn State as the second-toughest environment in college football and Oregon as No. 4 on the list. Oregon joins the Big Ten this year along with UCLA, USC and Washington.

LSU is the top-ranked home-field advantage in college football according to Klatt.

“Penn State, that white environment in a big game, it’s really tough to beat,” Klatt said on his podcast.

“There’s only one thing that beats it and that’s LSU at night.”

Since entering the Big Ten in 2014, Rutgers has yet to win at Penn State.

As for Oregon, Klatt called Autzen Stadium one of the most underrated home-field advantages.

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Rutgers does not play against Oregon this fall.

 

Sean Payton reminds Saints fans to show out, get loud for early 49ers game

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton values his homefield advantage, and wants fans ready for an early kickoff with the San Francisco 49ers.

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New Orleans saints head coach Sean Payton appreciates the impact his home crowd can make inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and he’s doing all he can to inspire their support again this week. And it isn’t the first time he’s gone out of his way to compliment — and challenge — the rowdy Who Dat Nation; back in October, Payton suggested fans would wake up easier with help from a Bloody Mary cocktail on their way to a noon kickoff against the Arizona Cardinals. He’s driving that point home again ahead of Sunday’s game with the San Francisco 49ers.

“We think about a lot of things, we think about everything, is it going to be loud, can we be louder?” Payton said during his Thursday media availability before Saints practice. “It’s going to be a noon game. Does the crowd realize how much of an impact they can have. Do they truly realize that?”

However, the visiting team isn’t quite so mindful of the crowd. 49ers running back Raheem Mostert has been impressed by how well fans have traveled this season for road games with teams lacking homefield support, like the Cincinnati Bengals, Washington Redskins, and Los Angeles Rams. He’s said he expects Sunday’s game in the Superdome to feel like a neutral site game.

We’ll see how that works out for him. If Payton gets his way and Saints fans turn out in droves even with a midday kickoff, there shouldn’t be any doubt by the time the final whistle calls.

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San Francisco’s Raheem Mostert expects 49ers fans to pack ‘the Voodoo Dome’

The New Orleans Saints won’t enjoy a homefield advantage when the San Francisco 49ers visit the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, one player insists.

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The New Orleans Saints will not enjoy a strong homefield advantage when the San Francisco 49ers visit the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for Sunday’s game, some players think. Or at least that’s what 49ers running back Raheem Mostert believes. He doesn’t expect his experience in New Orleans to go much differently from what he’s seen in other venues around the NFL this year.

“I have not played a game in the Voodoo Dome,” Mostert joked during an appearance on 97.9 The Game in San Francisco, “and I have heard multiple stories about how crazy the fans are in there, and the atmosphere, and all that. How I see it is it’s going to be a neutral site because I know our fans are going to show up because every game we’ve gone to, so far, has really felt like a home game, especially for these away games.”

In his defense, Mostert and the 49ers haven’t packed out stadiums that boast the NFL’s most fervent fanbases: they’ve played road games with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins, Arizona Cardinals, and Baltimore Ravens. Those aren’t franchises boasting years-long waiting lists for season tickets, and in some cases (like Cincinnati, Washington, and L.A.) are teams struggling to even lure out home fans due to various states of disappointment, instability, and indifference.

But Mostert doesn’t see much of a difference, though he is eager to see what all the fuss is about from his more-experienced teammates: “Even in Baltimore, we had a lot of fans cheering for us. We’re going to see how it goes this week when we play the Saints, but, like I said, it’s going to be a nice atmosphere, and I heard nothing but great, crazy things about it.”

Mostert is one part of the three-headed rushing attack coordinated by 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, and he’s turned 92 carries into 539 rushing yards this season; teammates Matt Breida and Tevin Coleman have each been effective with 542 and 454 yards on the ground, respectively.

They’ll be the toughest test yet for a Saints run defense that has snuffed out every opponent they’ve faced the last few years, including then-MVP candidate Christian McCaffrey not too long ago. New Orleans has established the longest streak of games without allowing a 100-yard rusher in the NFL (38, including the playoffs). We’re about to find out what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.

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