Last season we did a case study on whether home-field advantage matters in PML in Madden 22 after 13 weeks. And it did matter, with home splits being way higher than road splits. So let’s do it again, this time after 13 weeks in 2022 for an even data grab! NOTE: 2021 splits from last year’s article will be used here for comparison’s sake.
AFC East:
Patriots Home 5-1 Away 4-2
Dolphins Home 3-3 Away 5-1
Bills. Home 5-2. Away 3-2
Jets. Home 2-5 Away 0-6
2022 Total: Home 15-11 Away 12-11
2021 Total: Home 12-13 Away 14-9
Division Synopsis: The East sports 2 of the best home teams, but also the Dolphins who are road warriors. The Jets will not be the last team we see whose only wins are home wins.
AFC North:
Ravens Home 2-4 Away 3-3
Steelers. Home 3-3. Away 2-4
Browns. Home. 2-4 Away 3-3
Bengals Home 1-6. Away 3-2
2022 Total: Home 8-17. Away. 11-12
2021 Total: Home 10-14 Away 6-16
Division Synopsis: Wow, talk about throwing a wild pitch into this case study. The North sports a horrific home record, but this division almost manages to go over .500 on the road….duly noted…
AFC South:
Colts Home 4-1 Away 4-3
Jaguars Home 5-3. Away 1-3
Titans Home 3-3. Away 3-3
Texans Home 4-3 Away 1-5
2022 Total: Home 16- 10 Away 9-14
2021 Total: Home 21-6 Away 13-10
Division Synopsis: It seems every team in the South benefits from home games greatly besides Tennessee. Jacksonville and Houston especially, who combine for 2 road wins at this point of the year.
AFC West:
Broncos: Home 6-2 Away 4-0
Chiefs Home 4-1 Away 5-2
Chargers Home 5-1 Away 4-2
Raiders Home 2-5 Away 0-6
2022 Total: Home 17-9 Away 13-10
2021 Total: Home 15-11 Away 12-10
Division Synposis: A strong home (and overall) showing this season from the West. Denver is the only team undefeated on the road in 2022. But we also find the Raiders, another team who has failed to win a road game this season, in the division.
AFC Conference Totals:
2022 Total: Home 56-47 Away 45-47
2021 Total: Home 58-44 Away 45-45
Conference Synopsis: Even with the North throwing a wrench into the numbers, the AFC is overall stronger at home so far and near .500 on the road. For the second season in a row. Let’s check out the NFC now before we make any stronger statements…
NFC East:
Eagles Home 6-0 Away 5-1
Cowboys Home 5-1 Away 5-1
WFT Home 3-3. Away 2-4
Giants Home 2-4 Away 3-3
2022 Total: Home 16-8 Away 15-9
2021 Total: Home 12-11. Away 10-16
Division Synopsis: The NFC East has been bolstered by the Curt/KMfO swap. It seems the East plays the same whether at home or on the road.
NFC North:
Lions Home 5-1 Away 2-4
Packers Home 4-1 Away 3-4
Bears Home 1-4 Away 2-5
Vikings Home 2-4 Away 0-6
2022 Total: Home 12-10 Away 7-13
2021 Total: Home 14-8 Away 19-7
Division Synposis: This is easily the most lop-sided home/road split in favor of the home teams. Every team but Chicago is substantially better at home, including the 3rd team we’ve found with 2 home wins and 0 road wins this season.
NFC South:
Falcons. Home 2-4 Away 3-3
Bucs Home 1-4 Away 4-3
Saints Home 1-4 Away 2-5
Panthers Home 1-5 Away 2-5
2022 Total: Home 5-17 Away 11-16
2021 Total: Home 9-14 Away 7-18
Division Synopsis: Well well…it seems both the weakest divisions in PML this season cannot win at home. Is there a correlation to bad teams doing better on the road than home? Maybe. Or maybe the bottom-tier coaches in PML cannot grasp using home field advantage to help them win games. Either way, this is obscure. Mainly because this didn’t happen last season for either division.
NFC West:
Seahawks Home 5-1 Away 4-2
Rams Home 5-2 Away 2-3
49ers Home 3-3 Away 3-3
Cardinals Home 1-2 Away 4-5
2022 Total: Home 14-8 Away 15-13
2021 Total: Home 10-13 Away 7-18
Division Synposis: The rejuvenated West shows out at home this season. They’re also a handy road division, especially with the Cardinals getting 80% of their wins away from Glendale.
NFC Conference Totals:
2022 Total: Home 47-43 Away 48-51
2021 Total: Home 45-46 Away 43-57
Conference Synopsis: The NFC East and West strengthening in 2022 have helped the conference as a whole compared to 2021, when the NFC had a bad road split and about a .500 home split. And just like in the AFC, the worst division in the NFC still wasn’t enough to save the Away record from being a net negative.
PML 2022 Totals Through 13 Weeks:
2022 Total: Home 103-90 Away 93-98
2021 Total: Home 103-90 Away 88-102
Overall Synopsis: How about that! After 13 weeks PML as a whole is +13 at home for a second season running. The away splits tightening up in 2022 make you think, but you also have to remember what the NFC South and AFC North did to these numbers.
Which makes you think…is home-field advantage more important than ever in 2022 if those divisions still left us with the same Home splits? Regardless, I think +13 at Home and Negative on the road is telling 2 seasons in a row. Cherish your home games people, it matters!
