New England Patriots
The Bills were at the height of their powers in the 1990’s, and Kraft was impressed with their home-field advantage.
Sometimes, like it was during the Patriots’ divisional-round win against the Texans, the cold weather in Foxborough can be an advantage.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft realized this in 1994 around the time that he bought the franchise.
The Buffalo Bills were at the height of their powers back then, and their success convinced Kraft that building a dome in Foxborough would not be the right move. There are 11 franchises who currently play in domed stadiums.
During a recent interview on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Kraft explained why he’s against building a dome for the Patriots.
“I realized that Buffalo had gone to four straight Super Bowls the year before we bought,” Kraft said. “It made me realize that I never wanted to have a dome. Even though they didn’t win any of the finals, they won games because the players don’t like coming up into a cold place like that.
“How many of those indoor teams in the playoffs want to come here and play outdoors? With the salary cap, you’ve got to look at every competitive advantage you can.”
Kraft also cited Tom Brady‘s 0-3 road playoff record against the Broncos as a reason why home-field advantage matters. The Broncos’ stadium is called Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, a reference to the high altitude that makes the place unique among NFL stadiums.
“I think the Broncos have (competitive advantage) with their altitude,” Kraft said. “That’s something that — look, Tommy lost three games up there. Think about that.”
Kraft said he believes that the Gillette Stadium crowd was a difference-maker in the win against the Texans. The fans showed up and were loud. There were light flurries of snow during the game. Houston quarterback CJ Stroud threw four interceptions in the first half, and the Texans never got their run-game going.
With a pair of home playoff wins against the Texans and Chargers under their belt, the Patriots have returned to the AFC title game for the first time since Brady left.
The atmosphere reminded him of the Patriots’ first championship run in 2001 at the old Foxboro Stadium.
“I want to say something to the fans, because it started in the Sunday night game a week ago,” Kraft said. “It was like 25 years ago. I spoke with [coach Mike] Vrabel about it during the weekend. He said ‘I really hope they continue like that’, and the fans made a difference in this game.”
Kraft said the amount of penalties that the opposing teams had in each game was pat of the impact. He also mentioned how loud it was, with players having to tap each other to signal defensive adjustments instead of just yelling them out.
“The fan support, what I heard, it was a real turn-on,” Kraft said. “I thank them. Keep it going. I hope to have a fun decade here and we need — the outdoor stadium and the fan support are unique competitive advantages.”
The Patriots’ home-field advantage is over for this season. There’s the conference championship game in Denver this weekend and maybe an appearance in the Super Bowl in San Francisco if New England can get a win on Sunday. There’s also a chance that Denver wins and ends the Patriots’ season.
But, with Maye and Vrabel in place, Kraft said he plans to ensure that Gillette Stadium is ready to go for future playoff runs.
“We want to keep it upgraded. We, as a family, look at this like our home,” Kraft said. “We do the maintenance and its not some government entity running it. I’m pretty proud of this stadium compared to other publicly financed stadium, and please God, we’ll have a lot of great playoff games here in the future.”
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