Super Bowl LIV pits the N.F.C. champion San Francisco 49ers against the A.F.C. champion Kansas City Chiefs. Here is a look ahead.
Here are key points about the game:
- When is the game?
- How can I watch?
- Will this be a good game?
- Who will perform at the halftime show?
- What should I read in advance?
When is the game?
The official broadcast will begin at 6:30 p.m. Eastern from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., with kickoff expected to be closer to 6:40.
How can I watch?
The game will be broadcast on Fox and will be streamed on FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app. It can also be viewed through various subscription streaming services like FuboTV, YouTube TV and Hulu Live.
Will this be a good game?
Oddsmakers have made the Chiefs 1.5-point favorites, meaning they expect this to be one of the closest matchups in Super Bowl history. It is just the fourth time in 54 Super Bowls that the official line has predicted a margin of victory of less than 2 points. We broke down the matchup, predicting a narrow 49ers victory.
Who will perform at the halftime show?
Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will headline the halftime show, a cultural event that occasionally gets as much or more buzz as the game itself. The production value will likely be high, but unlike the 1995 halftime show, this one is unlikely to have an Indiana Jones theme, snakes and Patti LaBelle. “It was like a Broadway play back in the day,” LaBelle said. “Today you go out there, you have your three- or four-song set, you do it and you go home.”
What should I read in advance?
Ben Shpigel took a look at a 49ers offense that succeeds largely through deception, with nearly every play looking the same and plenty of players contributing without ever touching the ball. “It’s all meant to basically to take your eyes off what’s really going on,” said Brian Baldinger, a former N.F.L. offensive lineman. “They throw a lot of cheese at you and anticipate that the defense is going to be looking in the wrong place. It’s a Fifth Avenue game of Three-card Monte. Where’s the card?”
There are always connections between Super Bowl teams, but few can match the 49ers and the Chiefs each having a starting left tackle who went to college at Central Michigan. It is just the second time in Super Bowl history that a single school produced both starting left tackles, and it is doubly surprising since San Francisco’s Joe Staley and Kansas City’s Eric Fisher are the only first-round picks in Central Michigan history. Benjamin Hoffman talked to Staley and Fisher about gaining weight, supporting a fellow Chippewa on the opposite sideline, and why George Kittle won’t let Staley rekindle his old days as a tight end. “One-hundred percent,” Kittle said. “I am holding Joe Staley back.”
Bill Pennington examined Patrick Mahomes’s ascension in Kansas City and how the team knew what it had long before it unleashed him against N.F.L. defenses. “It’s always a leap of faith,” said Brad Childress, a former assistant coach for the Chiefs. “But Pat threw about 700 passes at Texas Tech and we watched every one of them. Not once, but several times. We knew what we saw and knew it was something special.”
At some point on Sunday, the Chiefs fans at Hard Rock Stadium are likely to do the “tomahawk chop,” a chant and gesture that is seen by many as mocking and insensitive to Native Americans. Jon Eligon explored Kansas City’s uneasy embrace of the celebration. “It doesn’t show K.C. pride,” said Howard Hanna, the chef and owner of The Rieger, describing his dismay as the impromptu chop unfolded in his restaurant. “It makes us look stupid.”
You’ve likely seen Katie Sowers, an assistant coach for the 49ers, in a series of commercials leading up to this game, but you probably don’t know how she worked her way onto the sideline for San Francisco. Talya Minsberg talked to Scott Pioli, a former general manager, who helped put Sowers in a position to thrive. “Young men always get the opportunity to be around people with the decision-making power,” Pioli said. “This time, it happened for a woman.”
Patrick Mahomes has a chance to be just the third black quarterback to win a Super Bowl. Elena Bergeron examined a group of players leading at a position that historically has been off-limits to any man who was not white. “This idea that someone doesn’t have the intellectual wherewithal to play the position because of their race has fallen by the wayside, and that’s a positive thing,” said Charles K. Ross, a professor of African-American studies at the University of Mississippi.
Have you seen this trophy? Please let us know.
Source: Football - nytimes.com
