In this post I hope to look at what makes playing at home easier for teams in the NFL. In 2011, three teams in the NFL had a perfect home record - winning all 8 home games (8-0). The Baltimore Ravens, New Orleand Saints and Green Bay Packers. This of course correlates to the overall ability of the teams but hopefully I can find some factors which benefits the home teams (the hosts).
The Fans
In most sports you would expect to hear the home fans the most when their team has the ball. Not in the NFL, where fans are encourage to remain quiet when their offense is playing, in order to assist the quarterback in changing the play at the line of scrimmage (calling an audible).
The other side of this is fans making noise when the opposition has the ball, causing difficulty for the offense. This often draws 'False Start' penalties, when someone on the line of scrimmage moves before the ball is snapped. Commentators often award these penalties to the '12th Man' - the term first used by the Texas A&M college football team. In the NFL it is most associated with the Seattle Seahawks, who have retired the #12 jersey (no player is allowed wear it) and also a famous person or local celebrity raises a flag with the #12 on it at the start of home games to honour the fan's support.
TO BE CONTINUED...
I've always been curious about the NFL due to its strong links with cheese.
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