The smell of pigs in a blanket in the oven and insane amounts of Bud Light commercials on TV can only mean one thing: Super Bowl season is among us! If you’re not a die-hard, crazy, gets into fights with Cowboys fans at a Giants game (it only happened once) football fan, you may not be super prepared for the game. Not being prepared means eating the copious amounts of finger food that will be out at your Aunt’s house all night and with Spring Break coming up, nobody wants that. Here’s a quick cheat sheet with a rundown of everything you will need to know to follow the game and impress everyone with your sports knowledge.
1. The Carolina Panthers: Great young team. They were really only created in 1995 and have already been to the Super bowl twice. Their Quarterback, Cam Newton, is in his 5th season in the NFL but has made quite a name for himself. He’s a three-time pro-bowler, and is known for his incredible ability to run the ball. He has actually set league records for scoring his own touchdowns. Newton is also known for his big personality; you will probably find him dancing on the field throughout the game.
2. The Denver Broncos: The Broncos are being led by their legendary Quarterback Peyton Manning (You’ve probably seen him in Papa John’s commercials). His performances this season, however, were sub-par and most of the key wins made by the team were because of the backup QB, Brock Osweiler. The Broncos have been to the Super Bowl eight times (which is a lot) but have only pulled out a victory twice.
3. Some fast facts: The game is being played at Levi’s stadium in Santa Clara, California. The game starts at 6:30pm EST on CBS. Coldplay will be performing at half-time with the all time Queen, Beyoncé as a guest performer. Halftime will be 30 minutes. Lady Gaga will be singing our national anthem at the start of the extravaganza and the average cost of a ticket for SB50 is $5,000.
4. Quick breakdown of the game: Each team has 4 attempts to go 10 yards. Every time they go more than 10 yards it’s a first down. Every time you get a first down, you get 4 more tries. The defense tries to stop these attempts and intercept the ball. When the QB is tackled before he throws the ball this is called a sack. If he gets sacked in the End Zone, it’s called a Safety and the other team gets 2 points. Each touchdown is worth 6 points, and if they kick the ball through the goal post (big yellow fork looking thing) they get an extra point. They can also run the ball for another touchdown, but it is only worth 2 points. This is called a 2-point conversion. Each team can only have 11 players on the field at one time.