ESPN ranks Gillette Stadium as 7th toughest for visiting teams

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Power Rankings: Top 10 toughest venues - NFC West Blog - ESPN

I don't think stuff like this is relevant.....for one thing the stadium was not designed with intent on crowd loudness as a factor or they would not have designed it with open ends.

Another thing is that if the team stinks it does not matter where they play...Gillette is in the top 10 because the home team that it was made for has been good for many years.......If the Patriots were the Pats of the early 90s Gillette would be ranked at the bottom so the rankings are kind of stupid.

Some would say a team that is 16-0 in the regular season the past 2 years should be ranked higher but its not because its in NE,its the team, but some simply don't get it.

 

[cupofjoe1962]

Lets look at the Patriots record since moving into Gilette.

2002 - 5-3
2003 - 8-0
Playoffs 2-0
2004 - 8-0
Playoffs 1-0
2005 - 5-3
Playoffs 1-0
2006 - 5-3
Playoffs 1-0
2007 - 8-0
Playoffs - 2-0
2008 - 5-3
2009 - 8-0
Playoffs - 0-1
2010 - 8-0
Playoffs 0-1

60 - 13 in the Regular season at Gillette
7-2 - in the playoffs at Gillette.

Total record at Gillette
67-15

The Patriots winning percentage at (reg season & playoffs) Gillette is 81.71%
Regular season winning percentage at Gillette is 82.19%

 

[PatsFanSince74]

The chart is interesting.

Looks like there's a lot of agreement on the top four (Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Kansas City) and then opinion kind of divides. The difference between #1 and #5 is 33 points, but there's only a 14 point difference between #5 to #10.


Anyway, I find it interesting that people think that Gillette is tougher than Philly and Oakland.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Lets look at the Patriots record since moving into Gilette.

...

Total record at Gillette
67-15

The Patriots winning percentage at (reg season & playoffs) Gillette is 81.71%
Regular season winning percentage at Gillette is 82.19%[/B]

I guess it depends on what makes the venue "tough."

Is it the stadium and its environment or is it the quality of the team playing there?

I'm inclined to think that when people say that, in recent history Foxboro has been a tough place to play that it's because it's home to the best team of the last decade, but when they say that Arrowhead or Qwest has been a tough place to play that it's because of the noise and environment.

Heinz is probably the place where the two are closest to even.

 

[randomk1]

The chart is interesting.

Looks like there's a lot of agreement on the top four (Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Kansas City) and then opinion kind of divides. The difference between #1 and #5 is 33 points, but there's only a 14 point difference between #5 to #10.


Anyway, I find it interesting that people think that Gillette is tougher than Philly and Oakland.

The weather has to be a factor.

I wonder what Brady's career home passer rating is.

 

[Dufflebagz]

Anyway, I find it interesting that people think that Gillette is tougher than Philly and Oakland.

Oakland has the lowest attendence in the league and sold out less than any other team.......yes, worse than Tampa. They may have one crazy section but they're the only people who show up.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Cant believe they are as high as 7th. The stadium holds no noise at all

 

[OhExaulted1]

How can they not have Lucas Feild and their pumped in crowd noise ranked?

 

[randomk1]

Cant believe they are as high as 7th. The stadium holds no noise at all

lol,i think Wilfork said that playing the 09 playoff loss was like playing an away game.

 

[zoostation]

Place is dead. Kills me when I hear the corporate pink hats asking me to sit down during a defensive 3rd down????

 

[randomk1]

Place is dead. Kills me when I hear the corporate pink hats asking me to sit down during a defensive 3rd down????

lol, that's just ridiculous.

 

[dhamz]

I guess it depends on what makes the venue "tough."

Is it the stadium and its environment or is it the quality of the team playing there?

I'm inclined to think that when people say that, in recent history Foxboro has been a tough place to play that it's because it's home to the best team of the last decade, but when they say that Arrowhead or Qwest has been a tough place to play that it's because of the noise and environment.

Heinz is probably the place where the two are closest to even.

Heinz is a tough place to play because there is usually a really good team waiting there, it is outdoors and often has extreme weather, and they have the worst turf in the league - a league where the overwhelming majority of teams run precision based, timing passing offenses dependent on guys being in the right spot at the right time. The turf throws those off, gives their D an edge, and doesn't impact the offense the Steelers run nearly as much. Those are the things that make it a tough venue.

Crowd noise is a fun topic for fans, makes it more fun to go to games, and sounds great on TV. It was once a big factor but has been significantly minimized in the modern NFL with electronic communciation of play calls and silent snap counts and hand signal audibles that have been practiced year round. You'll see a play here or there and even the occasional game where a young QB or an undisciplined team gets really rattled by crowd noise but they are few and far between these days.

 

[Haley]

I think their ranking criteria is a little off. What they should have done is calculated home win percentages versus away win percentages per stadium.

This article looks to have been crafted by random voting by ESPN bobbleheads. I have a dart board too.