• The Atlanta Falcons find success most often during Sunday kick-offs at 1:00 PM ET.

• The Falcons have a similar edge at home, winning 50.5% of games versus 45.1% away.

• On FieldTurf, their home surface, the Falcons have a win percentage that's higher than almost half of the teams in the league.

For many sports enthusiasts, superstitions and game-day rituals are as much a part of the NFL as touchdowns and tackles. While fans might wear a particular jersey or insist on sitting in a specific spot, could an NFL team's success actually be affected by a particular day, time, or even the turf they play on?

Sportsbooks comparison site SportsbooksOnline.com, analyzed the results of 5,928 NFL games spanning over a decade, to determine if external factors such as day, time, or playing surface correlate with a team's likelihood of securing a victory.

The data shed light on the luckiest time to be an Atlanta Falcons fan, revealing it to be 1:00 PM ET on a Sunday during a home game.

Over the ten years of results, the team won 50.5%, or 47 out of 93 home games, played on FieldTurf compared to away wins of 45.1%. Meaning that, when simplified, this team won more games while playing on FieldTurf at their home stadium than away games on Grass. This advantage may stem from familiarity with their home turf.

This comprehensive analysis also found that home games that kick off at 1:00 PM ET on a Sunday produce the highest number of wins for 75% of teams (24 out of 32 teams), including the New England Patriots, The Pittsburgh Steelers, and The New York Giants.

Conversely, teams such as the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are observed to have a higher win rate on specific turf types, with 58% of teams winning more games when playing on grass than FieldTurf. 

For five of the 32 NFL teams (Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, and Seattle Seahawks), Sunday home games played at 4:25 PM ET produced the highest number of wins. Among the teams analyzed, 60% had a higher winning rate when playing on grass than FieldTurf.

The remaining three teams (Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Arizona Cardinals) experienced more wins when games kicked off on Sundays at 4:05 PM ET, with the Cardinals and Raiders winning more games on grass than FieldTurf.

The data also revealed that Tampa Bay Buccaneers, LA Chargers, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, and Jacksonville Jaguars scored more points from away games than other teams. This may indicate the support level traveling fans give their teams when playing away from home.

Interestingly, the data also revealed that every NFL team has won more games at home than away, with the average home game win rate standing at 55.72%. 

Patrick Corkery, Content Writer at SportsbooksOnline.com commented on the study findings:

“While skills and strategy are paramount, it's fascinating to consider that seemingly trivial factors such as the day of the week or time of kick off, could be influencing team morale and the likeliness of a win.

“This study seems to provide compelling evidence for the power of a home turf advantage, with the data revealing that every team logged more victories on their home ground than when they played away.”