Atlanta Falcons talk: What’s behind the team’s shaky performance at home?

I want to note, before we get any further into this discussion, that I’m well aware the Falcons were not a great team from 2013-2015, which inevitably throws off their home and away records. Even so, when you’re considering Atlanta’s sluggish play at home this season, know that this is not a new development

Our own Allen Strk noted this morning that the Falcons are four games under .500 since the end of the 2012 season. That includes the team’s wildly successful 2016 season, when they were 5-3 at home and 6-2 on the road. That means for basically three full seasons and half of another, the Falcons have been a pretty lousy team, and homefield advantage is hardly that.

What gives here? I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the Falcons, who play indoors and have never been a team built around a bruising defense or overpowering ground game that would play well in poor weather, simply don’t have a genuine homefield advantage in the Georgia Dome and now Mercedes-Benz Stadium. You only sporadically get the kind of overpowering noise from Falcons fans that overwhelm opposing teams, unfortunately, as well. That plus a weird curse from the throwback black uniforms will apparently get you to sub-.500 pretty easily.

Hopefully that changes in the near term, but hell, I’d settle for more wins on the road, too, if it pushes this team into the playoffs. Can’t be too picky. What’s your rationale for this particular stat?