Which NFL team has the best home-field advantage?
Home-field advantage is a real factor in the NFL. From the altitude changes in Denver to the unique windows at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, stadiums tend to be a contributing factor on the day.
Away teams struggle a little away from home because of the hostile crowds, stays in hotels, foreign environments, and the drain of traveling. Some stadiums, though, are a notch above the rest in terms of hampering the opposition. Here's a look at which team has the best home-field advantage in the NFL.
Seattle Seahawks' NFL stadium is no place for the faint-hearted
Lumen Field, formerly CenturyLink Field, is an intimidating place to visit for opponents. The stadium is designed to maximize the roar of the crowd. Speaking from personal experience, Seattle Seahawks fans are some of the most boisterous in the NFL.
The stadium set a record for the loudest crowd in the NFL in 2013, according to Sports Illustrated. The stadium reached a staggering 137.6 decibels during a Monday Night Football game against the New Orleans Saints. To put this in perspective, Britannica.com says that standing next to an artillery round's firing only goes up to 130 decibels.
However, unlike artillery, which fires just once, the roar of crowds is constant. This is where the "12th man" motto of the Seattle Seahawks comes from. The cacophony of the crowd gives the Seattle Seahawks a massive advantage.
Seattle Seahawks fans reach their loudest points when opposing offenses are on the field. They are especially loud during third and fourth downs, and get so loud that it's nearly impossible to hear play calls. This creates a communication breakdown and tends to hand the Seattle Seahawks' defense a boost.
A number of teams abandon playcalls when playing in Seattle, instead relying on hand signals. However, this creates a new disadvantage as it gives the Seattle Seahawks a chance to figure out the gestures.
Lastly, Seattle is one of the only places in the NFL where teams need to use hand signals regularly and communicate non-verbally. Therefore, teams do not spend a lot of time practicing the signals throughout the season. When gameday rolls around, NFL teams often find that they are a tad underprepared to communicate fluently without speaking. The Seattle Seahawks' defense, meanwhile, swarms in an effort to overwhelm the opposition.
No matter which way one looks at it, the away team's offense is always at a disadvantage in Seattle, a disadvantage that tends to slow down offensive lines over the course of the game. This gives the Seattle Seahawks either a smaller deficit to make up or a larger increase to their lead than they otherwise would have.
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