What is the better homefield advantage?

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Who has the greater homefield advanage: Miami hosting the Packers the first week of August or Green Bay hosting Dolphins last week of December?

[Phishfan]

Green Bay hosting no matter the time of year because it is less about the weather and more about the atmosphere.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Green Bay hosting no matter the time of year because it is less about the weather and more about the atmosphere.

Change that to Bills @ Mia vs Fins @ Buff then.  Just interested in weather not crowd noise.

[Phishfan]

There was a time I think the heat could have been an advantage but I just don't believe it anymore. The modern NFL is too advanced. It feels like several years since I saw the last team completely gassed while Miami ran circles around them, and it was Buffalo. Typically a team has a week to prepare for it. Guys should be hydrating beforehand and teams can basically set up an air conditioner on the sidelines. If the players and staff don't put the wok in I'm not crediting the heat but knocking their lack of preparation.

[DaLittle B]

I said Winter,using temperature alone,the ground is hard,and any breeze/wind exacerbates the feeling.When you factor the possibility of precipitation,snow,and ice in winter...I think it can be huge...

[BuccaneerBrad]

Working in the heat doesn't really give you much of an advantage that working in the cold does.  All working in the heat does is sap your body's energy so that you're not 100% ready for the next week's game.

[Dave Gray]

Very good question.

I say that it's winter.  But not only because of player prep, but because of equipment.  The Dolphins have to pre-plan for every possibility, in terms of length of cleats and all that.  Whereas, the home-team has all that stuff on hand, just in case.

[Phishfan]

Working in the heat doesn't really give you much of an advantage that working in the cold does.  All working in the heat does is sap your body's energy so that you're not 100% ready for the next week's game.

I have argued this several times over the years and people still don't get it.

[CF DolFan]

I have argued this several times over the years and people still don't get it.

I don't understand the point. Heat will kill you. Once you dehydrate in the heat you weaken and pass out. Typically teams show signs of struggle in the 3rd and by the 4th quarters have nothing left to give. Unlwss you are prepared days ahead and receiving IVs you don't have much of a chance. I remember JT saying he had three IVs one game. One at half time and two afterwards. I also can't count the number of fans carried out of the stadium during the game form the heat.

I've seen it over and over again in youth sports as well. Teams travel to Florida and can't hack it in the daytime heat even though they are clearly more talented. If the turf is synthetic the heat index can be well over 110. I've seen cleats get soft just from the turf.

In the opposite display I remember my daughter's team was playing the state champions from Delaware in a tournament in NC and it was 19 degrees and raining. (who knew it could rain when it was that cold?) We had a tough as nails English coach who felt long pants and jackets were just a distraction so if you were in the game it was shorts and only a long sleeve jersey.  The team from Delaware was wearing long pants and some even had hoodies under their jersey. If you were to look you would have thought they were the Florida team. We tied 1-1 in case your wondering ... hahaha.

I've worked construction for over 30 years and have seen so many people fail or fallout in the heat that I cannot count. If you aren't used to it there's no way to prepare. 

With that said there are many people who hate to play in the cold but i haven't seen anyone carried off a football field because they got too cold. It is way more of a mental thing than a physical thing.

[masterfins]

The thing about the heat is that's it hot up north in the summer too.  So a northern team is used to playing in the hot weather as well as the cold.  Whereas, it's not bitter cold and freezing in the south ever.  Northerners are accustomed to the cold.  When I visit Tampa in November or December and it's in the 60's people are freezing, while I'm walking around in shorts and a tee shirt thinking it's beautiful.

[Phishfan]

I don't understand the point. Heat will kill you. Once you dehydrate in the heat you weaken and pass out. Typically teams show signs of struggle in the 3rd and by the 4th quarters have nothing left to give. Unlwss you are prepared days ahead and receiving IVs you don't have much of a chance. I remember JT saying he had three IVs one game. One at half time and two afterwards. I also can't count the number of fans carried out of the stadium during the game form the heat.

I've seen it over and over again in youth sports as well. Teams travel to Florida and can't hack it in the daytime heat even though they are clearly more talented. If the turf is synthetic the heat index can be well over 110. I've seen cleats get soft just from the turf.

In the opposite display I remember my daughter's team was playing the state champions from Delaware in a tournament in NC and it was 19 degrees and raining. (who knew it could rain when it was that cold?) We had a tough as nails English coach who felt long pants and jackets were just a distraction so if you were in the game it was shorts and only a long sleeve jersey.  The team from Delaware was wearing long pants and some even had hoodies under their jersey. If you were to look you would have thought they were the Florida team. We tied 1-1 in case your wondering ... hahaha.

I've worked construction for over 30 years and have seen so many people fail or fallout in the heat that I cannot count. If you aren't used to it there's no way to prepare. 

With that said there are many people who hate to play in the cold but i haven't seen anyone carried off a football field because they got too cold. It is way more of a mental thing than a physical thing.

You do realize you are making my point for me with your post. A Miami Dolphins player had 3 IVs in a game and somehow you think that is an advantage? The question isn't what is harder physically, the question is what creates an advantage.

[CF DolFan]

The thing about the heat is that's it hot up north in the summer too.  So a northern team is used to playing in the hot weather as well as the cold.  Whereas, it's not bitter cold and freezing in the south ever.  Northerners are accustomed to the cold.  When I visit Tampa in November or December and it's in the 60's people are freezing, while I'm walking around in shorts and a tee shirt thinking it's beautiful.

Not the same. It actually gets much hotter in other places around the country. Until you've experienced heat in weather so humid you can slice it with a knife then you have no clue. Didn't you watch the 2016 Olympics in Brazil? Most teams and athletes in any stamina event suffered mightily in the heat and they are all world class athletes who knew what to expect.

You do realize you are making my point for me with your post. A Miami Dolphins player had 3 IVs in a game and somehow you think that is an advantage? The question isn't what is harder physically, the question is what creates an advantage.

Not my point at all. Jason was kicking butt and playing lights out while Denver was throwing up and asking out of the game. Denver lost their lead in the 3rd and never scored again meanwhile I think JT caused a fumble and then ran it back for a TD to seal the game. They had the same technology available to them back then too. 

[masterfins]

Not the same. It actually gets much hotter in other places around the country. Until you've experienced heat in weather so humid you can slice it with a knife then you have no clue. Didn't you watch the 2016 Olympics in Brazil? Most teams and athletes in any stamina event suffered mightily in the heat and they are all world class athletes who knew what to expect.

It's high 80's, low 90's in upstate NY this week, granted the humidity is a bit lower this week, but the humidity here can be in the 90's easily.  I understand it can be another 10 or 20 degrees hotter down south, but having the proper trainers on your staff to make sure players keep hydrated can balance most of that out.  Going from 75 degrees and sunny in Florida to 20 degrees in Buffalo is a much bigger difference, especially mentally.

[BuccaneerBrad]

Not my point at all. Jason was kicking butt and playing lights out while Denver was throwing up and asking out of the game. Denver lost their lead in the 3rd and never scored again meanwhile I think JT caused a fumble and then ran it back for a TD to seal the game. They had the same technology available to them back then too. 

My point is this, there is no getting used to the heat.  You said yourself that Jason Taylor needed three IVs in one game.  If he was used to the heat, he wouldn't need those IVs.  There is getting used to the cold.  

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I think winter.  For the following reasons. 

1.  A northern team playing in the South in Sept, just finished training camp in July and August in and while Miami in Sept is hotter than Buffalo in August everyone will have practiced in really hot weather.

2.  A frozen ball has a different feel than a defrosted one.  The ball has a significantly dynamics at 0 degrees than it does at 40 degrees.  The difference between a 60 degree ball and a 100 degree ball is not all that different.

3.  Bad weather up north can mean a blizzard (snow and wind) complicating things even worse for the team not use to it.  Bad weather down south (wind and rain) means cooler temps thus mitigating the extremeness that home field adv would have. 

4.  It is easier to duplicate southern conditions.  Crank up the heat in the practice facility in Foxboro in August and you can get that room hotter than anything Miami has ever experienced.  I doubt the air conditioners at Miami's practice facility can get the room down to 32 degrees even on the coldest day. 

5.  I agree with the proposition that the biggest issue with playing in the heat is how long it takes to recover after the game.  So a team that has to play two or more hot weather games in a row might have problem fully recovering and dehydrating. 

6.  Ice can create field conditions that there is no equivalent for.