Don't try and fool Bill Belichick into thinking home-field advantage is actually an advantage because he's not buying it.
During his weekly press conference on Wednesday, Belichick was asked how much he thought it would help to have home-field advantage against the Steelers on Sunday.
Instead, of saying "Yeah, it might help," or "No, it's not that big of a deal," Belichick decided to drag the poor Chiefs and Cowboys into the conversation.
"I don't know. Go ask Dallas and Kansas City," Belichick said, via the Patriots' official website.
Ouch.
Those two teams both played at home in the divisional round and still lost. Cowboys and Chiefs fans have spent the past 72 hours trying to get over their losses and then Belichick goes and rubs it in their faces.
Anyway, Belichick was then asked if it's at least nice to have a little of extra fan support from the home crowd.
"Yeah, of course, but the game is won by the players on the field," Belichick said. "That's who wins football games -- the players. And they'll decide it Sunday night."
Belichick may not want to admit it, but home-field advantage has been huge for him during his time with the Patriots. Since he was hired in 2000, the Patriots have gone 16-3 in home playoff games and just 3-4 in postseason road games.
Think about that for a second: Belichick has more road playoff losses than home playoff losses despite the fact that he's coached in 12 fewer playoff games away from Foxborough. I'd say it's fair to call that an actual home-field advantage.
Of course, it's not surprising that Belichick didn't want talk to about home-field advantage. Belichick doesn't ever want to talk about anything unless it directly has to do with something that will be happening on the football field in his upcoming game.
