What stadium do you consider the toughest for visiting teams in January?

[iowajerms]

In the playoffs, what team has the biggest advantage based solely on the stadium?

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

I think if you're factoring in location Seattle is up there because for most teams spare the NFC West (outside of Rams) it's a long way to travel and you're dealing with at LEAST 2 hours time difference.

Outside of that though I'll go Green Bay. It's hard to get tickets as an outside fan and it's extremely cold there + outdoors.

 

[Rex Racer]

New England and Green Bay have the typically nasty weather conditions.

KC, in the rare times that they make the playoffs have some crazy crowd noise.

Seattle has the best sound system in football.

 

[JMR]

I think Seattle is the toughest place to get a road playoff win right now, but that's based in part on the quality of the home team + crowd noise.... which seem to be factored out by the way the question is worded.

 

[tedman2012]

In the playoffs, what team has the biggest advantage based solely on the stadium?

well you can rule out the ne cheaters because they use every thing in the book and then make some up . weather it would be chicago and packers hands down .

 

[Uhsplit]

Toss up for me. Sea, GB, or NE. KC should be there but they don't have enough experience playing at home in January. Sea has been stellar at home only recently. NE has a long term great record at home in January.
On 2nd thought, GB would be the most difficult due to weather being the #1 reason.

 

[blstoker]

Stadiums can't play the games, and so there's no real way to show how much an advantage a stadium gives their team, but there is a small way to see how teams take advantage of their home field. So, with that in mind, here's where I rank each of the stadiums listed (I did not do "other" because I felt the ones listed were enough).

1. Seattle is 9-1 since CenturyLink/Qwest Field opened, including their last 9 (2-0 in each of the three years they went to the Super Bowl in that time as well).

2. New England is 11-3 since Gillette Field opened, but all three hick ups have been in the last 5 years.

3. Green Bay is 15-5, but they have been only 4-5 since 2003 (though, unfortunately for me, 2 of those 4 wins were against Seattle).

4. New Orleans has a 5-3 record at the Superdome, but have won their last 5. So much like the rest of the team history, very little success until 2000.

5. Dallas is 2-0 in their new stadiums short career, but being only 26-22 at home in the regular season since it opened may indicate that could just as easily be the luck of the draw there.

6. Arizona has won all three games they have hosted at University of Phoenix, though they haven't hosted since Aaron Rodgers' debut 51-45 OT thriller in 2010.

7. Pittsburgh has enjoyed a 7-4 record at Heinz Field, though they did lose their last one.

8. Indianapolis is 4-1 in their short time in Lucas Oil, including the 45-44 comeback thriller in Andrew Luck's first playoff win.

9. Chicago is just 7-7 @ home, which surprised me a great deal, I expected them to be better at Soldier Field. They have won 3 of their last 4 (again 2 against Seattle).

10. Denver is 4-3 at their newer digs, which is a far cry from their 11-2 record at the old Mile High Stadium.

11. Baltimore is another team that surprised me with only a 3-2 record at home in the playoffs.

12. Kansas City is just 2-4 at home and haven't won a home playoff game since a 27-24 OT win against Pittsburgh in 1994.

13. San Francisco's stadium is just too new to give any indication about how it would do - having never hosted a playoff game. Candlestick Park had a more than respectable 20-7 record before the shut it down.

 

[WizardHawk]

In the playoffs, what team has the biggest advantage based solely on the stadium?

Curious wording on the question.

Our fans are often criticized for talking about their volume because the Clink is built to redirect sound back down at the field like no other. That is directly the stadium itself having impact. Not sure that's what you meant though. Lambeau and the weather are always fucking hard.

 

[Caliskinsfan]

Gotta go GB myself. More history of relevance and nasty weather that time of year.

 

[broncosmitty]

Ford Field.

No opposing team has ever won a playoff game there.

 

[Ojb81]

Gotta be Seattle

 

[Irish7478]

Probably Gillette. It gets very cold there, and the ball gets very hard and slick. It's much harder to throw and catch a ball when it gets cold there.

 

[WizardHawk]

Ford Field.

No opposing team has ever won a playoff game there.

Is the stadium itself the reason no one wins there?

That's why I say this is a curiously worded poll. It appears the OP wants the toughest in terms of the setting itself so that rules out which team is playing there as home and what they bring to the table.

It is this reason, and this alone I picked the Clink. The sound being focused back on the field is foreboding. Add the cold and often rainy weather and that's a tough STADIUM to play in. That Seattle is currently also good isn't included in that response.

 

[broncosmitty]

Is the stadium itself the reason no one wins there?

That's why I say this is a curiously worded poll. It appears the OP wants the toughest in terms of the setting itself so that rules out which team is playing there as home and what they bring to the table.

It is this reason, and this alone I picked the Clink. The sound being focused back on the field is foreboding. Add the cold and often rainy weather and that's a tough STADIUM to play in. That Seattle is currently also good isn't included in that response.

The franchise is the reason.

My lowly Lions haven't played a home playoff game yet this Millenium. (When Pontiac was our home.)

(Seatle, NE and GB would be at the top of my list. Thinking just of stadium, location and noise. With Arrowhead leading the rest of the pack.)

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

I think I have to officially vote Seattle. The noise is one thing (but whatever, lots of stadiums are loud), it's cold (although not as cold as GB/Minny, although both teams have to deal with that and the big lineman don't mind it)... but really because of geography (coupled of course with noise+weather).

It's harder for teams to get fan support in Seattle and it's a pain for teams to fly there because it's at the ass end of the US. Sure if the playoffs were in NY and Seattle had to fly there that's a pain, but for MAJORITY NFC teams, most would rather travel to NY due to flight time and timezone differential.

Also, if it's Minny vs. Green Bay or Chicago vs. Green Bay etc. those are EASY drives to make. Friend and I are driving from Chicago this year to watch the GB/Seattle game (he's a GB fan). It's like 2 1/2 hours. You can't really drive from Chicago/GB to Seattle feasibly (I've done it, took 4 casual days of driving).

I think that's what really separates Seattle. Outside of San Fran and Arizona, it's kind of a pain from everyone else. I mean look at that... Outside of MAYBE Minny/Dallas, everyone else has to groan flying to Seattle. It can also get pretty cold considering the stadium is right on the water and it gets windy.

Now don't get me wrong, it SUCKS if Seattle/San Fran/Arizona have to fly basically anywhere, but we're talking majority teams. As the map shows, everyone is pretty much East of central US.

 

[Manster7588]

Is the stadium itself the reason no one wins there?

That's why I say this is a curiously worded poll. It appears the OP wants the toughest in terms of the setting itself so that rules out which team is playing there as home and what they bring to the table.

It is this reason, and this alone I picked the Clink. The sound being focused back on the field is foreboding. Add the cold and often rainy weather and that's a tough STADIUM to play in. That Seattle is currently also good isn't included in that response.

You didn't catch the sarcasm, did you?

 

[flyerhawk]

Is the stadium itself the reason no one wins there?

Well no road team has lost at Ford field in the postseason either.

 

[Smart]

I've been to several of the stadiums listed. Frankly, none of them are intimidating like an intense college stadium. Seattle and KC seem to have younger and less wealthy fans alongside stadiums designed to be loud, so I would have to go with them.

Lambeau is scary because of the cold, but many of their fans are older and subdued. Soldier Field is a terrifying stadium with the additional advantage of an awful field, but they've priced out the loud fans in exchange for the well-kempt, trust fund crowd. Lucas Oil or U of Phoenix? Nice stadiums but not intimidating at all.

I hope to make it to AT&T for Wisconsin/Alabama, but I can't imagine it is intimidating. They have the same cost problem as Soldier Field, and it gets invaded by opposing fans. Culturally, Denver is a lot like Seattle and KC, but their stadium sure doesn't look intimidating. Same with San Fran.

 

[GNG]

In the playoffs, what team has the biggest advantage based solely on the stadium?

Lambeau Field and Century Link.

 

[The Derski]

It's kinda pointless to make a poll with Seattle as an option because it will always be skewed.