words // Brandon Richard
In May of 2010, the NFL made the bold move of announcing New York/New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium as the location for Super Bowl XLVIII. Under the official tag line of ‘Make Some History,’ the game will be the first ever open-air Super Bowl played in a cold weather region. The current record for low temperature at Super Bowl kickoff is 39 degrees in 1972 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans — we’d be lucky to see it that high at MetLife in February.
Week 14 served as a preview of what we may see in two months — frigid temperatures, players shoveling snow and game strategies being completely altered. Snowy conditions don’t exactly make for the best executed football, but it’s certainly enjoyable to watch. Whether it was the barely visible matchup between the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, another unlikely New England Patriots’ comeback, Matt Prater’s record 64-yard field goal in Denver or Antonio Brown nearly pulling off one of the greatest game-ending plays of all-time, we’ll always remember what went down this past Sunday.
Notable Week 14 results included the Baltimore Ravens keeping themselves in the playoff race with a wild win over the visiting Minnesota Vikings; the Cincinnati Bengals holding steady after topping the Indianapolis Colts by two scores; the Green Bay Packers picking up an important win over the Atlanta Falcons with Aaron Rodgers’ return pending; the New York Jets bouncing back with a 37-27 win over the Oakland Raiders; the Kansas City Chiefs blasting the Washington Redskins 45-10 on the road; the Arizona Cardinals eyeing a playoff spot after topping the St. Louis Rams; San Francisco edging by the rival Seattle Seahawks at home; Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints bouncing back with a blowout win over the Carolina Panthers; and the Chicago Bears keeping their hopes alive after topping the Dallas Cowboys 45-28 on Monday night.
Check out some of the football cleats that hit snow-covered fields over the weekend in today’s NFL Watch.
Jordan Todman // Nike Alpha Pro
Minnesota Vikings vs. Baltimore Ravens
Ray Rice // Nike Lunar Superbad Pro
Giovani Bernard // Nike Huarache 4
Eddie Lacy // Under Armour Highlight MC
Rob Gronkowski // Nike Alpha Talon Elite 3/4
Chris Ivory // Nike Alpha Pro
Detroit Lions vs. Philadelphia Eagles
LeSean McCoy // Nike Lunar Superbad Pro
Miami Dolphins vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Lamar Miller // Under Armour Nitro Icon Low
Tiquan Underwood // Air Jordan 12 Cleats
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Washington Redskins
Jamaal Charles // Reebok Zig Blaze
Terrance Knighton // Nike Alpha Talon Elite
John Abraham // Nike CJ81 Elite TD
Ryan Mathews // Under Armour Cam Highlight PE
Michael Crabtree // Air Jordan 12 Cleats
Drew Brees // Nike Lunar Superbad Pro
Brandon Marshall // Custom Orange Gator Nike Cleats
images via Yahoo / Getty Images (David Banks, Justin Edmonds, Larry French, Chris Graythen, Andy Lyons, Sam Greenwood, Thearon W. Henderson, Hunter Martin, Patrick McDermott, Mike McGinnis, Al Messerschmidt, Christian Petersen, Gregory Shamus, Patrick Smith, Washington Post, Jeff Zelevansky)