There certainly seems to be something about this team not playing as well at home.. Is it the pressure? Is it the chaos leading up to the game? Who knows.. it could be the flu!
I think this game might be an outlier since it does seem that the team was battling with some illnesses, but I do think there's something to be said about this year's team playing better on the road. Since I'm obviously not there with the team, this is all speculation but I think it might be a combination of the comfort and distractions at home vs. the focus and pressure that they face on the road.
As for the distractions, I think Kelly mentioned earlier this week that he saw a few players giving tours on the Friday before the game recently. He also mentioned that he was trying to manage some of the obligations that the players having for home games, such as the pep rallies and so forth. While it could be convincingly argued that players have always had these, or some form of similar obligations, it does seem that Kelly thinks the players are somewhat distracted and is trying to reduce these distractions. Playing at home would seem to be vastly different than away games where Kelly has the players in a highly organized, focused, and scripted itinerary for over twenty-four hours prior to kickoff.
As for the pressure, it seems that this team reacts well to adversity. You can take yesterday's game as an example. It seems that they play their best football when their backs are against a wall. Perhaps being on the road immediately puts them in a state of high awareness and performance and thus, better results.
