It feels like home games have been few and far between for the Ravens this season. I suppose that’s because of their seven games played, only three of them have been at M&T Bank Stadium. That leaves five more chances to head out to Charm City to see the Ravens play at home.
But math aside, in their three home games Baltimore has hosted the Browns, Broncos and Bills, teams with a combined record of 4-18, but required fourth quarter come backs in two of the three victories.
With a week in between their narrow defeat of the winless Buffalo Bills, it’s easy to forget the troubles that Baltimore had in their last home game. Not only did the Ravens require a fourth quarter comeback in this victory, but they relied on a game winning 38 yard field goal from Billy Cundiff in overtime to get it done.
Ravens fans have been outspoken about the quiet crowd during the Buffalo game, in particular after the Bill’s 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. But this was no ordinary game, it was a game in which the Ravens chose to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the their Super Bowl 35 championship. It should have been a day that fans were louder than ever before and a blow out on the field.
Despite the sample size is small, I wonder what has happened to Baltimore’s home field advantage. M&T Bank Stadium was traditionally one of the loudest most feared stadiums to play in, even when the Ravens failed to put a strong offense on the field. The 77,000 fans are used to cheering for the defense to shut down offenses late in the game.
This week, Baltimore hosts the 4-3 Miami Dolphins, a team of questions. The Phins are 4-0 on the road and defeating Buffalo, Minnesota, Green Bay and Cincinnati respectively. But they are still looking for their first win at home. The Dolphins are coming off of a 22-14 victory over the Bengals in which their kicker Dan Carpenter scored the first 15 points before Ricky Williams reached the end zone late in the fourth quarter.
We’ll have a full preview of the match up later in the week, but for now I have to question the Ravens home field advantage in this game, especially against a team that has proven that they are more comfortable winning on the road.
