New York put in it’s bid to host the big game and it obviously has something to do with that monstrous new stadium their building. When news broke about Arizona withdrawing their bid to host the Super Bowl every writer was chiming in with their two cents.

I was actually quite surprised at the number of people who were for having it there. To me, this is just a pipe dream on the part of the owners of new Meadowlands stadium. But a lot of people don’t see it that way. Many people feel the need to have the Super Bowl played in the elements, they figure it is what the NFL purists want.

Well I consider myself an NFL purist and I think it’s a ridiculous idea. I suppose I have to explain my reasoning so here goes.

The main problem I have is the weather that New York tends to get in February, that being cold and snowy. The Super Bowl is supposed to be played at a neutral site as to eliminate any possible advantage. If it were in New York and it was snowing, that clearly creates an advantage for some teams. If the Cardinals and Steelers were playing in said Super Bowl and it was snowing I’m pretty sure the Steelers would have a major advantage.

So say all that does happen and the Steelers destroyed the Cardinals how much news do you think would focus on the weather as being a clear advantage for Pittsburgh? I’d say that would be the main topic. So now you have a team that won but the luster has been taken off because of the advantage the weather gave. Do you think the league wants that? Do you think the league wants fans and writers saying that if it weren’t snowing that the game would be different? It takes credibility away from the champion and the league wouldn’t like that.

I know people say that dome teams have the advantage when playing in a dome and that may have been right 10 years ago. But now all the stadiums are turning to the same kind of turf which allows all teams an even playing surface, literally. Some people even say that when the game is played in Miami that warm weather teams have the advantage. That’s usually where I give up on the argument.

I would be very surprised if the league gave the go ahead on this one. Cold weather is a major advantage for some teams, not every team gets exposure to practicing and playing in the harsh winter conditions of the East coast. Like I said, I’m a total NFL purist and I love watching games played in the elements. Just not ones with as much on the line as the Super Bowl

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Freeney had 13.5 sacks this year and his pass rushing abilities are second to none in the league. He’s the last player the Colts could handle losing going into this game.

The Saints passing attack is the best in the NFL. When Brees gets time in the pocket he has a habit of picking defenses apart. Although he was noticably off in the NFC championship game, it’s fully expected he’ll bounce back from that and have a performance worthy of being in the big game.

If, in fact, Freeney does happen to miss the biggest game of the year it may hurt the Colts quite a bit. Their defense is built around getting pressure on the quarterback. If the pressure isn’t there the Colts corners are going to have to play extremely well. The Colts still have Mathis coming off the edge on the other side, but now you can put the focus solely on blocking him instead of having to split the attention.

If Brees gets all day to throw the football the Saints are going to score a lot of points. Hey, maybe Freeney missing this game could be a good thing. We may be in store for the most offensive Super Bowl ever, and I mean that in a good way.

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