January is almost over and the month of love is upon us. The time is almost here, the time where family and friends gather together to watch America’s most hyped and well known event in the history of sports. Yeah, not the US Open and no, not rugby either. We are talking about the coolest, baddest, toughest sport event there is. The NFL Super Bowl. The NFL Super Bowl is upon us, and football fans could not be more excited. 

Whether or not the word “football” makes sense, one is most likely familiar with the event. As it is all over billboards, social media, and television, that contributes to the announcements, commercials, and advertisements featuring America’s top football teams and players fighting for those final two spots in the big championship game. This year the final 4 teams are the Kansas City Chiefs, the San Francisco 49ers, the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Los Angeles Rams. Sadly, the Chargers are not in this year, but that’s alright. Because regardless of what team is in or not, the games are simply entertaining enough to captivate any football fan’s attention. 

Specifically for this season, the 21-22 season, the playoff format is different from other years, so it may seem a little unfamiliar, but don’t worry, this article covers it all. Usually 12 teams are allowed into the playoffs, but now this year 14 teams were accepted. In a regular season there are a total of 32 teams. So only less than half of the number of teams have a chance. The way a team gets in is if they have the top spot in the wins/losses standing of their division, and or a high seed ranking of all 32 teams. Those 8 teams as well as 6 wild card teams get in. In total there are 6 wild card games, 4 divisional round games, 2 conference games, and lastly the Super Bowl. 

So now that the format and the basic structure of the game has been established, let’s get into the endzone and give details as to what makes the Super Bowl such a widely viewed event every year. Okay, and that is enough sad attempts at football puns for now. Well, for starters, the Super Bowl is highly viewed every year, as the 2021 Super Bowl was viewed by 96.4 million people. Not only that, but most venues fill up for the Super Bowl, with the last Super Bowl, taking into account COVID, being still 25,000 fans in the stands. For reference, there were also 30,000 cutouts in the stands to fill the seats! Besides watching the best teams go head to head, lastly, there is the halftime show that contributes to overall viewership. Over the years there have been great, and terrible shows, but the names and productions have always been big. From Michael Jacson to Bruno Mars to Coldplay,  the names are infamous. This year Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar will headline the event. 

Last year, Tom Brady and the Buccaneers beat the Kansas City Chiefs winning the 55th Super Bowl. This year there is no Brady, not even in the final four, so most football fans are happy. But superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes is back in the AFC championship with the Chiefs taking on the Bengal’s lead team of young sophomore quarterback Joe Burrow. In just Burrow’s first postseason play of his NFL career, the 25 year old quarterback is averaging 296 total yards (throwing and rushing), 1 td, and a QB rating of 101.75. This is impressive for a young quarterback who has never seen the playoffs before. But Mahomes on the other hand is averaging 391 total yards, 4 touchdowns, and a player rating of 130.65, with his star teammate Travis Kelce being the top tight end in the league and this postseason averaging 102 yards (receiving) with an average of 16.8 yards per catch. Kelce also has 2 td’s and cannot be stopped by opposing teams defenses. Now even though the Bengals have been great and have shocked many by making it this far, history shows that Mahomes and company (third straight year in AFC championship and last Super Bowl being in 2020), have to be ruled as the favorites. 

Meanwhile over in the NFC are the LA Rams and the San Francisco 49ers. Now while the Rams have the better quarterback statistically, that being Matthew Stafford who has 4 tds, compared to the 49er’s Jimmy Goropollo who has 0 tds thus far in the postseason. On top of that the 49ers defense and offense has overall been superb this postseason with key wins against the tough Packers (shutting out superstar qb Aaron Rodgers) and the Cowboys (doing the same to qb Dak Prescott), while scoring an average of 18 points per game. Now with that aside, the Rams have superstars like the league’s best Aaron Donald, defensive stud Jalen Ramsey, and veteran, and ex-Broncos champion Von Miller, all on their defense playing great football this postseason. As well the Rams have some absolute studs offensively with this year’s potential MVP, Cooper Kupp, and Odell Beckham Jr. (an ex New York Giant, and Cleveland Brown who is reinventing himself in LA). This game seems to be the game likely to either end in a landslide (favor for LA to win) or a very close game, with the better, “star-studded”  Rams team in LA winning. The Rams also have the home court advantage with the NFC championship taking place in SoFi stadium, LA. Now if the Rams do face the Chiefs in the superbowl, my prediction is Aaron Donald and the Rams putting pressure on Mahomes and company’s offense, and executing their offense better than the opposing team’s tough defense. Matthew Stafford would be making his first superbowl appearance, and I feel has a lot more to prove than already champion Mahomes. Also, the game is in LA, in the Rams home arena, so the fans will be loud and proud with their team’s home field advantage. 

But, no matter what teams win, and no matter who takes home the trophy, that time for the Super Bowl is almost here. The time where family and friends get together to eat delicious “pigs in blanket” and nacho cheese dogs, while standing on the couch yelling at all star caliber players going head to head in the most anticipated sports event of the year. Who are you rooting for?