‘Home of the Chiefs!’ The 5 toughest places to play this NFL postseason

Eric Williams

NFL Reporter

A key reason the Kansas City Chiefs are one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl for an unprecedented third straight time is because they have the most clutch player in the league in Patrick Mahomes.

He’s 15-3 in the postseason in his career, and that includes a 12-2 mark at home, which is another reason the Chiefs are favored. They have home field throughout the playoffs, and they play in one of the loudest, coldest stadiums in the league.

Factoring in crowd noise, weather, field conditions and overall talent on the roster, here’s our ranking of the five toughest places to play this postseason, starting with No. 5.

5. M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore Ravens

In his 17 years as Baltimore’s head coach, John Harbaugh has built one of the most consistent winners in the league, and that starts with creating an advantageous home-field environment. M&T Bank Stadium is where Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis created one of the most memorable field entrances in league history, getting the crowd hyped at the start of games.

And that atmosphere would carry on throughout the games, with a feisty stadium filled with fans not afraid to push the boundaries when taunting the opposing team.

Weather also is a factor late in the season in Baltimore, and temperatures are expected to be in the 20s for Saturday night’s wild-card contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Despite all this, however, the Ravens have just a 4-5 record at home in the postseason.

4. Ford Field, Detroit Lions

Dan Campbell has changed the identity of this franchise by building a Super Bowl contender that the crowd can get behind in the Motor City. As a result, Ford Field has become one of the loudest indoor stadiums in the league, creating a distinct home-field advantage for the Lions, who earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Campbell’s aggressive mindset, including trick plays and routinely going for it on fourth down, helps to stoke an already raucous crowd. The Lions were 7-2 at home during the regular season this year. And despite a 9-14 overall playoff record for the franchise, Detroit is 7-1 at home in the postseason.

3. Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia Eagles

Yes, this is the stadium where fans booed Santa Claus, so opposing players know what they’re in for when they play at The Linc. And they start them young in Philadelphia, as evidenced by this video below.

Philly finished with an 8-1 record at home this season and is 17-11 at home in its playoff history. Fun fact: The Eagles have never reached the Super Bowl in a postseason in which they had to play a road game.

Back in 1980, when they first made the Super Bowl, the Eagles played on one of the league’s worst artificial turf fields at Veterans Stadium. The Linc features a hybrid grass field that works much better for the players — and for the winter weather in the Northeast.

2. Highmark Stadium, Buffalo Bills

Bills fans are known for breaking tables in the parking lot before games, and the rowdiness continues inside Highmark Stadium.

Like Kansas City, Buffalo can get a lot of snow in December and January, creating difficult playing conditions for visiting teams — and an opportunity for fans to throw snowballs at opposing players. Add in a swirling wind that’s tough to predict, and it’s no wonder kickers and punters consider Buffalo one of the toughest places to kick.

The Bills were a perfect 8-0 at home this season and have won 11 straight at home dating back to last season, the longest current streak in the NFL.

1. Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City Chiefs

The Miami Dolphins experienced the full force of what it’s like to play at the NFL’s toughest venue last postseason. In the coldest game on record at Arrowhead Stadium and the fourth-coldest in league history, the temperature at kickoff was minus-4 degrees. Mike McDaniel’s up-tempo offense led by Tua Tagovailoa slowed to a standstill, while Mahomes and the Chiefs played like it was 60 degrees in Kansas City’s 26-7 win.

But it’s not just the frigid conditions. The Chiefs officially have the loudest stadium in the league. Kansas City holds the Guinness World Record for loudest crowd, 142.2 decibels, set during a win over the New England Patriots in September 2014. The deafening noise starts with the last line of the national anthem, which Chiefs fans loudly and proudly change to “Home of the Chiefs!”

For opposing players, choosing the right cleats can be an issue for the grass field at Arrowhead. If conditions are wet and the field is muddy, or frozen, it can take opponents a while to figure out the right type of cleats to provide good traction.

With all of this and the best team in the league, it’s no wonder that the Chiefs have won a league-best 80% of their games (40-10) at home over the past five seasons.

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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