In playoffs, home field isn't a clear advantage

What's up with home-field advantage in the NFL playoffs? After struggling all season to gain the privilege of playing the second season on their own turf, two teams with home-field advantage lost in the wild-card round. Then, with the bye week supposedly giving an even bigger edge to home teams, three of them lost in the divisional round.

Makes sense, actually, if you know how HFA works -- and what its limits are.

From the dozens of academic studies on home-field advantage, three sources of HFA emerge. One is the subconscious tendency of referees to channel the preferences of home crowds. Favoring home teams is a way to cope with the enormous stress of quick decisionmaking, and home teams in every major sport benefit from a differential in calls made by officials. Ron Winter's crew, which handed out more penalties than any other this season, worked the Colts-Chargers game in Week 18, and guess what? They called nine penalties on Indy, including three on San Diego's overtime drive, essentially deciding the game.  
 

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