In The Athletic, the sports activities service from The New York Instances Firm, Mike Jones outlines the highest story traces to comply with forward of the massive sport. Listed here are three:
Eagles-Chiefs rematch
Two years after they met in Arizona for Tremendous Bowl LVII, the Eagles and Chiefs face one another once more.
Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts delivered a blinding efficiency in his Tremendous Bowl debut, passing for 304 yards and a landing whereas dashing for 70 yards and three extra touchdowns. His Eagles held a 27-21 lead getting into the fourth quarter earlier than the Chiefs scored back-to-back touchdowns to take a 35-27 lead with 9:22 left to play. Hurts and the Eagles responded with one other landing drive, however within the last 5 minutes of motion, Patrick Mahomes marched his crew downfield for a 27-yard Harrison Butker subject objective with eight seconds left for the 38-35 victory.
Chiefs’ pursuit of historical past
With three Tremendous Bowl victories in 5 years, the Chiefs have already got achieved dynasty standing. However they’re not executed but. They’ve their sights set on extra historic feats.
A victory Sunday would make the Chiefs the primary crew to win three Tremendous Bowls in a row. Kansas Metropolis additionally would be part of the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers as groups with 5 Lombardi Trophies, trailing solely the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers, who’ve six.
Mahomes has a private legacy so as to add to. If he wins Sunday, he’ll tie Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana for the second-most Tremendous Bowl victories by a quarterback, with 4. Tom Brady leads the record with seven rings.
Officiating underneath the microscope
… Officiating got here underneath scrutiny once more on this 12 months’s AFC Championship Recreation due to two controversial performs. On one, Chiefs receiver Xavier Worthy was awarded a catch although Payments security Cole Bishop additionally appeared to own the ball, which additionally appeared to hit the bottom (however didn’t transfer). On one other, the Chiefs have been deemed to have stopped Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen on a fourth-and-1 sneak try, although some digicam angles appeared to indicate Allen crossing the road to realize a primary down. Replay assessment upheld each calls, however that hasn’t quieted skeptics, who consider the Chiefs obtain favorable therapy from sport officers.
The Chiefs, Eagles, their followers and the N.F.L. as a complete can solely hope this Tremendous Bowl isn’t determined by any controversial calls.
Are there different Tremendous Bowl tales you might be following?
Maybe you’ve been noticing the rise in trendy soccer attire:
Virtually precisely a 12 months in the past, Kristin Juszczyk, the spouse of the San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who had been fortunately D.I.Y.-ing her personal game-day merch, grew to become the Cinderella of her personal trend fairy story when Taylor Swift wore one in every of Ms. Juszczyk’s custom-made jackets to observe her new boyfriend, Travis Kelce, play soccer. Earlier than you might say landing, she had 1.2 million Instagram followers, a licensing cope with the N.F.L. and was chosen to make a jacket for the winner of the Indy 500.
… or you’ve been trying ahead to Kendrick Lamar’s halftime efficiency:
After sweeping the Grammys on Sunday, Lamar’s ubiquitous Drake diss could possibly be the centerpiece of the halftime present. That, it bears mentioning, is fairly unusual.
… or you’ve been following the information that the N.F.L. would possibly take away the “Finish Racism” messaging ultimately zones forward of Sunday’s sport:
At his annual Tremendous Bowl information convention Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell strongly supported the league’s insurance policies designed to advertise range on the club-employment degree and stated they’d proceed.
However throughout Tremendous Bowl LIX, and with President Donald Trump apparently planning to attend on Sunday, the NFL could be making one other sort of assertion on the Caesars Superdome subject itself. Based on two league sources, who spoke on situation of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions, league officers just lately modified one of many slogans anticipated to be stenciled behind an finish zone from “Finish Racism” to “Select Love.”
College students, learn a number of of the articles above, after which inform us:
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Are you planning to observe Tremendous Bowl LIX? In that case, what are you most trying ahead to — the sport, the commercials, the events, the halftime present or one thing else? For those who’re not planning to observe, why not?
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For those who’re a soccer fan, what do you consider the matchup between Kansas Metropolis and Philadelphia? Which aspect are you rooting for? What crew do you assume will win? Which gamers do you assume will stand out and why?
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Which Tremendous Bowl story has been most compelling to you? Is it one of many tales talked about above or one other that you simply’ve been following by yourself? No matter it’s, inform us why it has your consideration.
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What do you concentrate on the selection of Kendrick Lamar because the halftime performer? For those who might see anybody carry out on the Tremendous Bowl, who wouldn’t it be, and why?
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What predictions do you’ve concerning the sport or anything associated to it, similar to which approach the coin toss will go, how lengthy Jon Batiste will sing the nationwide anthem or whether or not Travis Kelce will suggest to Taylor Swift after the sport? (Sure, these are all actual bets followers are making forward of this 12 months’s sport.)
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Why do you assume the Tremendous Bowl is such an enormous deal in American tradition? Is it greater than only a sport? What do you assume it means culturally, and why?
