Super Bowl Sunday is coming up and while this year may be different in that there are fewer or smaller get-together for it due to COVID-19, a large audience is still expected to tune in.
This is a primer for those people whose only experience watching a single a minute of a football game is going to come Sunday and would like to know some context.
Here is what you need to know.
General information
Super Bowl LV (or 55 for those who don’t know their roman numerals) is being played in Tampa Bay between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
One thing in that sentence that might have stood out is a first. The Buccaneers are the first team in history to play in a Super Bowl on their home field.
Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, this year’s attendance is expected to cap at about 25,000 fans, less than half of the 75,000 capacity. More seats are going to have cardboard cutouts than fans this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
While the television broadcast might pump in some artificial crowd noise, it has not been much of a factor for players all year with smaller crowds this season.
The teams
The Kansas City Chiefs are slight favorites according to the Las Vegas odds makers. The Chiefs are the defending champions and have looked the part all season with a record of 14-2.
They have the most exciting and unstoppable offense in the league led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In just his third year as the starter, the 25-year-old has established himself as one of the most talented quarterbacks in league history.
While both teams have players whose off the field history is plenty problematic, there is no such worry with Mahomes, who comes off as well as a model boy scout with a slightly higher pitched voice than you would usually think of when you think football player.
His big offensive weapons are tight end Travis Kelce and speedy wide receiver Tyreek Hill. On defense the players to know are safety Tyrann Mathieu (who has the fun nickname of “Honey Badger”) and defensive lineman Chris Jones.
If you feel guilty rooting for the favorites don’t worry.
Kansas City hasn’t gotten to the level of dynasty yet where everyone roots against them out of principal like the New England Patriots.
A lot of people think they look like they are on the cusp of being that next team in the sport, so it’s still okay to like them for the most the part. Before last year’s win, the franchise’s only Super Bowl win was in 1970.
With that comparison to that 20 year Patriots run comes the other big storyline for this game.
The Buccaneers employ quarterback Tom Brady, who if you don’t know, quarterbacked all of those New England teams the last two decades. You might have heard his name.
This is Brady’s first season away from the Patriots after the two separated due mostly to Brady’s age.
While I would not call someone 43 old, in professional football that is considered ancient. He first won the Super Bowl with New England in 2002.
His six wins and nine appearances in the biggest game is easily a league record and many consider him the best quarterback of all time or at least in the conversation.
Even at 43, Brady still has played well this year, getting a Tampa Bay team back to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.
The Buccaneers only Super Bowl appearance came in 2003 which they won, but they have largely been irrelevant for all of the 2010s.
Other big names to know are receivers Mike Evans, Chris Goodwin, the infamous Antonio Brown and tight end Rob Gronkowski.
On defense linebackers Devin White, Lavonte David along with pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul are names to know.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.