Quote:
Originally Posted by Sainters7
Yep, Saints have just been a good road team in general the past few years. They're a league best 31-9 on the road since the start of 2017, contrary to belief they're still that soft, southern Dome team that wilts outdoors in cold temps...and they're not that dominant team at home anymore.
They're built to win on the road, which is why it was so frustrating they never had a single outdoor road playoff game during their contender period between 2017-20. I would love to see this team in a cold weather playoff game in January, suits their game better than the Dome would.
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Kansas City has been similar in that they were 6-2 at home last year and 8-0 on the road. The previous year 5-3 at home and 7-1 on the road. Yet there is a narrative that Arrowhead is this intimidating place for teams to play. Last year to an extent really does not count as much due to the lack of fans in stadiums and Covid Protocols although KC was one place that had fans all year in some form last season.
Really the Saints changed their team to get away from throwing for 5200 yards per year and needing 30 plus points to win games. Teams just do not win Superbowl's when their offence runs that way at least not with any type of consistency. Often it's a product of needing to score like that to cover up for a bad defense or inability to run the ball and grind down the clock. How many years did Brees throw for 5000 yards and they didn't sniff the playoffs?
That all said, I doubt the Saints are specifically built to handle Florida heat and humidity better than every other NFL team but struggle in controlled conditions. There's a lot of randomness involved here. It likely has more to do with the fact that home field in the NFL isn't what it's made out to be. Outside of the AFC North, most AFC teams really are not that different on the road from what they are at home. In the NFC only the Packers, Buccaneers, and Vikings are definitively better at home than they are on the road.