Football coaches can be a little bit dramatic when it comes to their teams. Getting ready for their first road trip of 2015, Chargers head coach Mike McCoy may have gone a little bit overboard.
"It's us against the world," said McCoy. "That's going to be our mentality any time we go on the road."
OK. Really?
"It's us against the world," McCoy reiterated. "It's our 53 guys and everyone else in the organization sticking together and playing our best football and just tuning everything else out and take care of our jobs."
While the rest of the world is probably not against the Chargers this weekend McCoy does bring up a good point. Winning on the road is not easy in the NFL. Which is odd because not all that much changes. The field is the same size. The surface is basically the same. The weather is not all that big a factor.
"Yeah, it's like Hoosiers," said quarterback Philip Rivers, referring to the classic basketball movie where Gene Hackman takes his small-town team to a massive arena and eases their anxiety by measuring the court to show it's exactly the same. Yet it's undeniable, winning on the road is more difficult than winning at home.
"It certainly would show up in the numbers," said Rivers, and he's exactly right.
Since the start of the 2002 season there is exactly one NFL team that has more wins on the road than it does at home: the New York Giants, who somehow won a pair of Super Bowls in that stretch. Every one of the other 31 teams have had more success at home than they have on the road. Even the Patriots, who have won more games than any other team in that stretch, have 18 more W's at Gillette Stadium than they do away from it.
So what is it that makes winning on the road so difficult?
"Well I just think you have to deal with all the different distractions," said McCoy.
Distractions like what?
"Crowd noise," said McCoy. "Sleeping in a different bed. but you sleep in a different bed at the hotel for home games, too, so I guess you can eliminate that one."
True, but his first point is probably the answer. It was the number one factor cited by pretty much everyone we talked to.
"The noise, obviously," said Rivers. "The communication part of it. You saw us last week (in a 33-28 win over the Lions at Qualcomm Stadium) how many things we did no-huddle at the line of scrimmage. That's a lot tougher to do when you can't hear."
It's mostly tougher on the offense, but that doesn't mean a loud, rabid crowd doesn't also hinder opposing defenses.
"I think it's the momentum a home team can get," said cornerback Brandon Flowers. "They get a couple first downs or a big score or a turnover the crowd gets to loud. Even the players, they get energized from the crowd noise so when you go on the road you've definitely gotta try to make a play early and silence the crowd because if you don't it can be a long day for you."
Aside from the stats, there's something else at play. Something real that you just can't put your finger on.
"Just in general. Shoot, you've gotta pack up and go to their place. There's just something about being at home that gives you an advantage," said Rivers.
But the really good teams also win on the road. Since 2002, here are the five teams with the most road wins:
- New England Patriots
- Indianapolis Colts
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- New York Giants
It's no coincidence that those teams have won eight of the 13 Super Bowls. If the Chargers can go in to Cincinnati, where the Bengals have only lost three times in the last two years, and win then the Bolts can claim they're a really good team, too.
