This memorable sports weekend foreshadowed what awaits the NFL in the fall as the league welcomes back spectators following a 2020 season when COVID-19 kept most of them away. Last season, networks used tight camera angles and simulated crowd noise to approximate familiar broadcast experiences. But inside mostly empty stadiums, those who were present described venues so eerily quiet, coaches could yell instructions to players from the sideline. Situations quarterbacks find most challenging, such as third-and-long on the road, became less threatening, likely contributing to statistical spikes that might not be sustainable as fans return in 2021.
“I really believe people are misjudging the impact of no noise,” an offensive coach said during the season. “Nobody thinks about it because they don’t live it. I have laid in bed at night and could not sleep because of noise.”
5. Green Bay Packers (0.87 EPA/play)
Rodgers drawing the Saints offside twice in a Week 3 Sunday night game from the Superdome focused attention on the sometimes comical nature of the silent shift in road teams’ favor. He did it once on a third-and-7 play early in the game, and again in the fourth quarter on a third-and-3.
“This is exactly what we’re talking about,” the NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said on the broadcast after the second play. “This does not happen if this is a normal crowd in here.”
The Saints listed attendance for that prime time game at 748, down from 73,146 when the Packers last visited New Orleans, in 2014. Rodgers was league MVP in both of those seasons, but his Superdome experiences were vastly different. The 2014 game saw the Packers amass 491 yards, but they converted just once in seven chances on third down. Rodgers, playing through a sore hamstring, had one touchdown pass with two interceptions. Last season in New Orleans, the Packers converted five times in 11 chances on third down. Rodgers tossed three scoring passes without an interception.
Many things changed from 2014 to 2020, of course, but removing noise from the experience for visitors to the Superdome obviously made a difference.
The return of fans this season isn’t going to suddenly swing game outcomes, but it could tip the balance on some of these plays teams failed to convert as regularly in the past, when crowds might be at their loudest.
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