Does Snow Affect the Game?

Now that the cold weather is rolling into the Northeast and Midwest, with parts of southern Mass seeing snow already, the question reappears- does snow affect the game? I always found it kind of funny that the places with the best climate are the some of the ones with domes- Arizona, Dallas, Atlanta. Is it necessary to be shielded from the perfect 76 degree day outside? Granted in early fall, AZ actually needs the A/C up in there but still, they close it even when it’s 60 degrees because people out there call that freezing. Yes, they do wear hats, scarves, and ski jackets. Where are the domes where they are most needed- New England, Green Bay, Buffalo? Gillette was just built in 2002. Come on Kraft, this country eats enough Mac and Cheese that you could have afforded it. Just kidding, no relation there, but you have been on the Forbes World’s Billionaires list and Forbes Richest Americans list for 5 years now.But it’s all good; don’t build us a dome because we benefit from the lack of snow protection. We all remember that 2002 blizzard playoff game. The controversial tuck rule which lead the game into overtime. The running game may have sucked, but Brady completed all eight passes for 45 yards, Vinatieri kicks a perfect one, and the Raiders never even had possession in OT. That is probably the most memorable snowy game for Brady, but he also went 7/7 on every snow game he has played- Dec 03 over Dolphins, Dec 03 over Jags, Jan 04 over Colts, Jan 05 over Colts, Dec 05 over Jets, Dec 08 over the Cardinals. Oh, and that nice little snow game in Oct 09 where the Pats won 45-0 over the Titans.

In the 1982 “Snowplow Game”, a snow plow was used to clear a spot for the winning Patriot field goal kick over Miami. And of course the “Ice Bowl” of 67 remains the coldest NFL game on record clocking in at -13 degrees in Green Bay. The wind chill made it -36 degrees. The champs? Green Bay. In the 07 snow covered game in Cincinnati, the visiting Bills should have been used to the conditions, but the victory went to the home team. Cinci managed 163 rushing yards and a safety, while Buffalo was unable to even score. The Dallas home loss in the 93 Thanksgiving game was about the only one I could find where visitor won. So while there are no hard stats on it, it appears the home team takes the cake in the frosting.