NFL: Why History Is Against the New Orleans Saints' Super Bowl Chances in 2012

The Super Bowl—for all its glam and glory—carries with it some deep curses.

There are those that state that a Super Bowl champion is less likely to achieve success in the following year, and highly unlikely to repeat as world champions.

History proves both of these to be true.

Yet for all the truth to both of these "curses," the history books prove that there is a far deeper curse that has invaded the National Football League; one that affects teams that don't even make the playoffs.

Simply put, if you host the Super Bowl, you're in for a rough season.

If that multimillion dollar event is coming to your town at the beginning of next year, then you can kiss away your team's chances at taking the championship because teams never perform well when they know the Super Bowl is coming to town.

Again, history proves it to be true.

Not once has a team played the Super Bowl in their home stadium, let alone won the championship.

Throughout all the decades and records, it's never happened—in fact, nobody has even come close to breaking the home ground Super Bowl curse.

In the last 30 years of the National Football League, only three teams hosting the Super Bowl have qualified for the playoffs. Two of those failed to score a touchdown in their first game.

The 1994 Miami Dolphins have come the closest, but they too failed to make the Conference Finals—going down to the San Diego Chargers.

And out of all the teams that did not make it to the playoffs that year, over half finished with losing records, and around a quarter of those finished with the worst record in the division.

Case in point? The Indianapolis Colts.

On the back (or arm) or Peyton Manning, the Colts entered the 2011 season hoping to "reverse the curse" and play in Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium.

We all know how that turned out, as the 2-14 Colts became the first team in NFL history to in the same year, host the Super Bowl and finish with the worst record in the league.

And the next Super Bowl to hit will be at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisana.

Look out, Saints.

If history is anything to go by, then Drew Brees and company are set for a rough year. Their home ground was their fortress in 2011, but it could turn out to be their demise in 2012.

And whilst I'm not one to buy in to superstition, jinxes and curses, history is clear that the New Orleans Saints won't win Super Bowl XLVII.

In fact, they won't even come close.

You may wish to point out Super Bowl XIV where the Los Angeles Rams played at the Rose Bowl in California, or Super Bowl XIX where the San Francisco 49ers played at Stanford Stadium to prove the curse wrong.

But you know just as well as I do that they are not their home stadiums and no matter how close they are geographically, they are completely different to playing at home.

It appears, for now at least, that the Super Bowl home ground curse is in full swing once again and headed straight for the New Orleans Saints.

How will the Saints rise to defeat this storm? We'll have to wait to find out.

But one thing is for certain: With Drew Brees behind the reins of their very explosive offense, this may well just be the year when the curse is reversed for good.

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