10 toughest NFL stadiums to play in for road teams

4. Gillette Stadium, New England Patriots

30 years ago, of course, the New England Patriots would have never found themselves on a list such as this. But, in addition to building one of the greatest dynasties in the history of sports, head coach Bill Belichick and future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady also built one of the strongest fanbases in all of the sports world.

And that fanbase makes Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA one of the most difficult places to play for visiting football teams. Filled to the brim with 65,878 screaming fans every, single game — this is a daunting atmosphere for anyone to play in.

Since 2002, the Patriots have called Gillette home, and Joseph Arrigo of Oddysey asserts “Woe to the team that has to travel to New England to face this powerhouse! The fans expect excellence, and so does their coach. It also gets cold and snowy in the winter.”

See, its not just the fanbase, or the intimidating scowl of the hoodie, its also the weather. And specifically, all those playoff games the Pats have gotten to host at home over the last two decades in frigid cold, and often snowing, northeast winter weather.

The Sports Analytics Simulator concludes that “The Patriots have the most regular-season wins and postseason wins at home…their mastery at home is very hard for any team to overcome. They like the blustery weather conditions in New England late in the season and their fan base knows they have a winner.”