Get your wing and pizza orders in! Super Bowl Sunday is almost here. The NFL championship has become an unofficial national holiday, as millions will gather for either the game itself, the star studded halftime show, or the standout commercials. The game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams will wrap what has been the longest NFL season in history, with the league adding a 17th game to the schedule and pushing the event into Valentine’s Day weekend. Here’s your complete guide to Super Bowl LVI.
Where can I watch the Super Bowl? What time?
This year, NBC will air the big game. It will also be available to live stream on Peacock, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App. Kickoff is set for Sunday, February 13 at 6:30 p.m EST, but pre-game festivities start at 12 p.m. It will be live from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the home stadium of the Rams. The NFL tries to choose a neutral site, but this will be the second Super Bowl in a row to be played in one of the featured teams’ home field. Last year, the Buccaneers hoisted the trophy in their Tampa Bay stadium.
Who’s playing?
This is the first time the Bengals and Rams will meet in the championship game, and they make history as the first matchup of No. 4 seeds in Super Bowl history. Both teams come into the game with intriguing storylines.
The Cincinnati Bengals are champions of the AFC side of the league, defeating the previous AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 in a thrilling overtime tilt. They rallied from an 18-point deficit to secure the win. It’s their first Super Bowl appearance since 1988, when they lost to the San Francisco 49ers 20-16. This Super Bowl marks an incredible turn of fortune for the franchise. Before this season, the Bengals had not won a playoff game in more than 30 years, the longest drought in major sports. The season prior to 2021, the team had won only four games and lost their highly drafted rookie quarterback, Joe Burrow, to a knee injury. Now, in his second season and a year removed from tearing his ACL and MCL, the 25-year-old could become one of the youngest quarterbacks to ever win a Super Bowl. Burrow would also be the first quarterback selected No.1 overall to win the Super Bowl in his first two seasons. They come into the game as 4 point underdogs, according to many Vegas sports books. But being doubted isn’t new for this young team.
The Los Angeles Rams are making their fifth Super Bowl appearance, and their second in the last four seasons under Head Coach Sean McVay. They also have the rare honor of a home field advantage, playing the Super Bowl in their own stadium. Their last Super Bowl appearance was the lowest scoring Super Bowl of all-time, a 13-3 loss to the New England Patriots. But with weapons like the resurgent Odell Beckham Jr., and league leading receiver Cooper Kupp, they are bound to light the score board up. Their offense is led by Quarterback Matt Stafford, who is finishing his first season in Los Angeles. Before that, he spent the first 12 seasons of his career on the Detroit Lions, where he didn’t have any playoff success. But who really does in Detroit? This season on the Rams has been a showcase for Stafford to prove his talents among the league’s elite. On the Lions, he was 0-3 in the postseason. This season with the Rams, Stafford is 3-0. Capping it off with a Super Bowl victory would be enough to prove the naysayers wrong.
Super Bowl LVI will also be the youngest matchup of head coaches. Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor is 38. The Rams McVay is just 36. If Los Angeles wins on Sunday, McVay would become the youngest coach to ever win a Super Bowl.
The National Anthem
Country artist Mickey Guyton gets the honor of performing the national anthem at this years game. R&B artist Jhené Aiko will take on “America The Beautiful.” And Iconic Gospel duo Mary Mary will reunite to perform the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice.”
The Halftime Show
The Super Bowl has delivered some of the most iconic performances of all-time from major heavy hitters like Prince, Michael Jackson and Beyoncé. But this year’s show could be the biggest yet. Curated by rap legend Jay-Z in partnership with the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative, SBLVI will welcome a powerful tandem of Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar. It’s an homage to West Coast hip hop and the city that’s called it home. The performance will also be a historic one as the NFL welcomes two deaf rappers to the line-up. That’s a league first.
