whatever happened to Domefield advantage? (1 Viewer)

Twags14

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Sean Payton has gone 4-11 in his past 15 home games as head coach, and 1-5 in his past six division home games.

I attended the Dome game vs the Falcons this year and I can honestly say I was disappointed with the energy in the stadium. people clearing out at half time, and even more so at the end of the 3rd. Stadium never getting as loud as I was hoping it would.

What happened? Has bounty gate really been that detrimental to what is suppose to be a home field advantage for us?
 
Sean Payton has gone 4-11 in his past 15 home games as head coach, and 1-5 in his past six division home games.

I attended the Dome game vs the Falcons this year and I can honestly say I was disappointed with the energy in the stadium. people clearing out at half time, and even more so at the end of the 3rd. Stadium never getting as loud as I was hoping it would.

What happened? Has bounty gate really been that detrimental to what is suppose to be a home field advantage for us?

Bad football killed the home field advantage.
 
Bad football killed the home field advantage.
I agree. The team has to meet the fans half way. There's nothing more discouraging than a defense that is completely terrible. As a fan it is a total buzzkill. The good part is that a tiny bit of success can turn that whole thing right back around.

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Sean Payton has gone 4-11 in his past 15 home games as head coach, and 1-5 in his past six division home games.

I attended the Dome game vs the Falcons this year and I can honestly say I was disappointed with the energy in the stadium. people clearing out at half time, and even more so at the end of the 3rd. Stadium never getting as loud as I was hoping it would.

What happened? Has bounty gate really been that detrimental to what is suppose to be a home field advantage for us?

This is an example of a post that starts off with a reasonable question based on legit stats (I haven't double checked, but those records sound pretty close, so I'm assuming they're accurate)............then immediately gets worse by throwing out the implication that the fans may be to blame.........then goes completely off the cliff by questioning Bountygate's role in all of it.

First off, Bountygate was 2012.......and in 2013 the Saints went 8-0 at home.....so let's just go ahead and immediately put that nonsense to bed.

Now the part about the fans.......somewhere along the way, I believe some Saints fans started believing "loud fans = wins". While loud fans may come in handy at various points in the game.......if that's all it took to win, teams like Seattle, Kansas City, New Orleans, etc would be winning the SB year after year.

As far as fans leaving in the ATL game.......I'm not sure why anyone would have left at halftime (are you sure they weren't just using the restroom or getting something to eat?), but way early in the 4th quarter you had that tipped-ball INT that ATL returned for a TD...which put them up by 20. No, the game wasn't technically over by that point.....but anyone with a working set of eyeballs could see that the defense probably wasn't gonna get enough stops to win that game. Plus you don't know who might have had work or school the next morning, and if the Saints were gonna crap the bed in what was supposed to be this big huge emotional charged-up night, then those fans probably wanted to go ahead and get on home to salvage some sleep.

I've been to games in 2011 when the Saints mostly always won by double digits, and I've been in 2014 and 2015 when they couldn't buy a win at times. In none of those instances did I notice a lack of energy when the Saints were keeping the game competitive. The fans are the absolutely last group of people to blame for the decline in home field advantage.
 
I live out of town, and thus can only fly in for a few games a year. I still own my father's original season tickets.

What I noticed is a newer, younger crowd - Who are there for the EVENT. To be Seen, and to See - Drinking, socializing but not really much into the action of the game. These are NOT hard core Who Dats, but rather the newer carpet baggers and hipsters who insist on getting in and out of rows during crucial plays!!

I spent 10 minutes lecturing those in our row that NFL games are basically long breaks in between short stints of action. Get in and out of rows during BREAKS in the action. Do NOT Walk across people with a play going on!

Anyway, hopefully winning will help this, as well as educating the NEW Who Dats to the sanctity of The DOME!
 
the top 4 reason is defense. when you cannot stop the opposing team from scoring, especially in the final 2 minutes. defense is to blame for probably 75% of the losses at home.
Through the first 3 quarters of the ATL game, the dome was loud. even after some left, it was loud. if the team needs loud fans to win, how do you explain the wins on the road? there are times during home games where when the defense cannot make a stop, I get tired of yelling. when a team converts on most third downs, it becomes irrelevant how loud it is. when I see a player on defense raising his arms up and down for us to get loud, then give up a 3rd and 18, you tend to lose motivation. the dome gets loud when plays are made, not the other way around.
 
We went 8-0 in the dome after bountygate in 2013. Our defense is the main reason that we're not very good at home. For some reason our defense plays their better games on the road, while their worst games are at home.
 
What I noticed is a newer, younger crowd - Who are there for the EVENT. To be Seen, and to See - Drinking, socializing but not really much into the action of the game. These are NOT hard core Who Dats, but rather the newer carpet baggers and hipsters who insist on getting in and out of rows during crucial plays!!

Seems to me this is very true, I too come in from out of town with season tickets, and am amazed at the fickleness of today's fan base/crowd. I attribute it to an entirely new set of fans and fan base which is accustomed to winning and winning mightily.

If the game is marginal, or the team is sloppy, the fan base turns to boos or just plain leaves the dome. In the pre-Payton/Brees era, if that was the criterion, then why would fans have even shown up? You knew the old team was bad. That was a given. They had about a 10-20% chance of winning, yet those fans showed up, and stayed at the game, and hell, they even cheered. Back your squad man.

Yeah, the defense is crap. I hear ya. Yeah, it's not good football. True. But if Benson passes on and Rita takes the team to another city, what will you do with YOUR Sunday?
 
To echo everyone else, it's the defense. Fans will screams as loud at they can, but it takes the air out of you when the defense keeps giving up big plays.
 
I attended the Dome game vs the Falcons this year and I can honestly say I was disappointed with the energy in the stadium. people clearing out at half time, and even more so at the end of the 3rd. Stadium never getting as loud as I was hoping it would.

What happened?

If you just rearrange the question a bit, you'll reveal that you already know the answer.

Sean Payton has gone 4-11 in his past 15 home games as head coach, and 1-5 in his past six division home games.

Bad football breeds fan apathy.

If you attended Saints games between 1993 and 1999, then between 2003-2005 you'd see that the product on the field dictates the fan reaction and support.

As a fan, attending a game, you want to feel somewhat that the product is working to improve and be as quality a product as possible. When your team is in a free-fall, of sorts -- your only method of protest (since you've already given the team money for your ticket) is to either not show, or show limited enthusiasm for a poor product. Not saying I do this -- just saying that it's done.

Couple that with an overall decline in fan support at games league wide, increasing costs associated with attending a game and competing sources for entertainment -- fan support is dwindling so to speak.

We have great fans, but our fans are not immune to the apathy that comes from supporting a sub-par product. Also, factor in that many fans, this year, at least were impacted by the floods and they aren't prioritizing the Saints games over recovery.

If the Saints start playing good, consistent ball, the support will tick up some.
 
The game that started the 4-11 slide at home was the game the Saints put Aaron Brooks in the Saints Hall of Fame. Coincidence????
 
Bad football killed the home field advantage.

It's that simple. People don't get excited to see a horrible performance. Would you cheer at a rock concert if they played like crap?

Compounding the issue is that this is the 3rd straight season of it. People have better things to do with their time than cheer for a horrible product on the field. We're THREE years into a rebuild and we aren't seeing much improvement (injuries are obviously killing us, but lots of fans don't even keep up with that).

I'm not saying that's what I personally think and feel, but that is the answer to your question.

Attendance will start to suffer next. You can't keep playing at this level and expect endless, blind support.
 
To echo everyone else, it's the defense. Fans will screams as loud at they can, but it takes the air out of you when the defense keeps giving up big plays.

The first few defensive drives are always loud. But when the Dome is rocking and they still give up a 3rd and 12, and then another, and then another, it gets pretty quiet pretty fast.
 

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