You don’t have to be an American football fan, or even an American for that matter, to have heard about the Super Bowl. For the NFL faithful, the event is a final push toward the end zone following a season-long drive down the gridiron, each yard filled with shot nerves and high blood pressure. But for those who are just joining for the final sprint (and didn’t understand the metaphor in that last sentence), here’s everything you need to know to get caught up to speed.

Who’s playing?

Last year’s Super Bowl winners, the Kansas City Chiefs, will be playing against the Philadelphia Eagles.

If a Chiefs–Eagles Super Bowl sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Just two years ago, the two teams competed in Super Bowl 57, when quarterback Patrick Mahomes helped lead his team to victory.

What’s all this chatter about a ‘three-peat’?

This year, all eyes are on the Chiefs. Not just because Taylor Swift’s boyfriend is on the team (though it helps) but because they have the chance to do something that no team has ever done before: win three straight Super Bowls.

Can they do it? We shall see.

Gamblers are split in the early wagering on the Super Bowl. Sports betting site BetMGM has the Chiefs as the favored winners with odds at -130. The underdog Eagles have their odds at +110.

When is the game, and how can I watch it?

At 6:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 9, the two teams will face off at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The game will air on Fox, but for those without cable, the network will stream the game on Tubi, a free, ad-supported streaming service, for the first time.

How does football work again? What are the rules?

For all its ubiquity in the U.S., football is a surprisingly complicated sport. So let’s stick with the basics and talk through some terms you might hear on the broadcast.

There are two teams, and each one wants to score as many points as possible.

When a team has the ball, they will attempt to either run or throw the football down the 100-yard-long field in hopes of getting it into the end zone, thus scoring a touchdown, which is worth 6 points (a successful extra point kick after the touchdown would make it 7). The other team will seek to stop their opponent by either tackling the player with the ball, knocking the ball to the ground or intercepting the ball.

Teams have sets of offensive and defensive players. When a team has the ball, their offensive players take the field, pushing forward and protecting the player with the ball. The team without the ball has its defensive players take the field, attempting to stop their opponents from advancing. The team with the ball has four chances (called “downs”) to move 10 yards down the field. If they successfully advance 10 yards, the number of downs resets. If they fail, the ball must go to the other team.

There are a lot more details and exceptions, but these fundamental rules should help get you through the game.

Who are some key players to watch?

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, #26, helped lead the Birds to the Super Bowl and had an incredible season. He signed a $37.75 million, three-year contract last March and became the ninth player ever to rush for 2,000 yards in a regular season. He also set an NFL record by completing seven touchdown runs of at least 60 yards in the regular season and playoffs.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, #1, had a great Super Bowl against the Chiefs two years ago, but he lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown in the first half of Kansas City’s 38-35 comeback victory.

But that won’t cut it this time, especially not in Philadelphia.

As for the Chiefs, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, #15, or as his teammates and coaches call him, “Laid-back Pat,” is one of the greatest in the sport. He already has three Super Bowl rings and is chasing a fourth, and is a two-time league MVP who is shattering records every season.

Travis Kelce, #87, has been ranked by AP as the NFL’s top tight end two years in a row. Kelce is Mahomes’ most trusted pass catcher, so you can expect to hear the two players’ names mentioned in tandem a lot on Sunday.

Who are the coaches?

Nick Sirianni took the helm for the Eagles in 2021, his first time serving as head coach. He’s worked to fill the shoes of coach Doug Pederson, who led the team to a Super Bowl victory in 2017.

Sirianni has the highest winning percentage among active NFL coaches and the fifth-best in NFL history. However, he’s often ridiculed for his sideline antics that can overshadow his coaching success.

The Chiefs’ Andy Reid is an NFL stalwart who’s guided the team for over a decade.

Reid is no stranger to the Eagles himself. Before joining the Chiefs, he coached the Eagles for 13 seasons and was the most successful in the team’s history. Go figure.

Despite leading opposing teams, Reid and Sirianni have something in common: At some point, Eagles fans wanted them both fired.

What if football just isn’t my thing?

You don’t have to keep your eye on the ball to enjoy the big game. Here are a few things to watch out for this year:

1. Fun ads:Brands are paying big bucks to keep the nostalgia train rolling. Former “When Harry Met Sally” costars Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal will reunite for a mayonnaise commercial set in Katz’s Deli, and Chrises Pratt and Hemsworth will use their bromance (last seen on screen in “Avengers: Infinity War”) to promote Meta’s smart Ray Ban sunglasses.
2. The halftime show:Seventeen-time Grammy winner Kendrick Lamar will perform at this year’s halftime show, continuing his cultural domination with another victory lap following the release of his chart-topping “GNX” album and decisive triumph over Canadian rapper Drake in last year’s rap beef.
3. Taylor Swift: While it’s impossible to know where the superstar will be on any given day, it’s safe to assume she’ll be in New Orleans on Feb. 9 wearing red to support her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
4. Betting on the game:If you’re over 18 and in a state where it’s legal, you can become one of the many millions of Americans who bet on the big game. And if the game itself doesn’t interest you, there are tons of other proposition bets that have nothing to do with football. They could be anything from what color the Gatorade will be when it’s dumped on the winning coach (a long-standing football tradition), to how long the national anthem run time will be and whether Kelce will propose to Swift at the end of the game. (Yes, this is a real thing.)

___

Republished with permission of The Associated Press.

Post Views: 0

With more financial challenges facing Floridians, the University of Florida (UF) health care professionals are offering more services to help residents deal with the rising costs of staying healthy.

UF officials point out that recent studies found that 46% of all Florida households have trouble paying for necessities such as food, transportation, and rent. Health care is often put on the back burner. The United Way ALICE report — Asset-Limited, Income Constrained, and Employed — included that data.

Given that health care sometimes takes a back seat, UF is committing to highlighting its services. Most notably, the UF Health Cancer Center uses its mobile cancer screening bus to visit places in Florida that may be off the beaten path or farther from hospitals. The traveling screening vehicle will expand access to cancer detection and other health care services, including three-dimensional mammograms and colon, prostate, and cervical cancer.

“The Mobile Cancer Screening Connector” is a first-of-its-kind service that traverses more remote areas in North Central Florida. The vehicle targets residents of rural areas where many Floridians lack access to screenings.

The mobile services help increase cancer services in underserved communities. In 15 out of 23 counties, mammogram rates are below the state average.

“By offering several types of cancer screening services in one place, we will use the Connector to reach more people, encouraging community members to get multiple cancer screenings closer to where they live and to bring their friends and family to get screened, too,” said Ramzi Salloum, Ph.D., the Cancer Center’s associate director for community outreach and engagement.

Beyond the cancer screening outreach, UF medical experts are increasing efforts to make statewide pharmacy care more accessible. They are doing this by using UF pharmacy students.

“Our hope is that our students recognize the important role that a pharmacist can have in the lives of these patient populations,” said Stacey Curtis, a clinical associate professor and the assistant dean for experiential education in the College of Pharmacy. “For those who have limited access to primary health care, pharmacists are readily available in those areas to help provide that care.”

Meanwhile, UF is also increasing dental care for the underserved by utilizing the Saving Smiles Program to promote children’s oral health. The program also uses the Mobile Dental Outreach program at Arc of Alachua County. That program provides dental screenings for people with intellectual, developmental or acquired disabilities.

Post Views: 0

Every once in a while, when an unsuspecting offense is least expecting it, Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid will inch his way toward the line of scrimmage, then take off like a thunderbolt toward the quarterback the moment the ball is snapped.

It looks so simple, the way Reid blitzes, as if all he’s doing is timing up the QB’s cadence.

Turns out it is far more complicated.

The timing is a big part of it, of course, but so is the way defensive linemen tie up the offensive line. The way the rest of the defensive backfield disguises coverage. The way pass rushers stunt or otherwise provide pressure on the quarterback from the outside, making him move to the exact point on the field where Reid expects to meet him.

The mad scientist pulling all those strings is Steve Spagnuolo, the Chiefs defensive coordinator, whose job in helping Kansas City get back to the Super Bowl had him interviewing with several clubs last week for another shot at being a head coach.

“He’s incredible,” Reid said ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl rematch with the Philadelphia Eagles. “My first year here, like, the amount of pressures and cover-zeros and simulated pressures — the sheer volume of it was a little bit like, ‘Wow, this is really deep.’ But as you get a ton of reps at it and start to get a feel for the defense, you’re almost hungry for it. Like, ‘Let’s put in more, put in something else nobody has ever seen.’”

Hard to believe there is something left to invent.

But that deep, complicated defensive playbook and all those exotic blitzes that “Spags” has developed over the years are a big reason why the Chiefs are back facing the Eagles on the NFL’s biggest stage.

“I love this defense, man. Spags, we’ve always trusted him and everybody that plays under him,” Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said. “They’re so sound and they play their tails off, and they throw their heart out there on the field every single week.”

In the early years of their dynastic run, the Chiefs defense was a liability, and it was up to Patrick Mahomes and the rest of a high-powered offense to bail it out. But that changed when Spagnuolo arrived, and General Manager Brett Veach began investing free-agent money and draft capital into upgrades on that side of the ball. The result has been a defense among the NFL’s best in scoring the past few years, and one that was particularly good against the run this season.

That could prove pivotal as the Chiefs try to slow down Eagles running back Saquon Barkley in the big game.

And when it comes to slowing down the passing attack, well, that’s where blitzes come into play. They can come from any level of the defense, at any point in time, and the only thing they have in common is the frequency in which they succeed.

“He doesn’t do it every down,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “Sometimes you get the stigma of being a ‘blitz guy.’ It’s when he does it and how he knows the protections or the run scheme, you know, for the run blitzes. How he understands the scheme and when to go about using it. I think that’s what makes him so unique and why they’re so successful.”

The success of the Kansas City defense coupled with Spagnuolo’s relatable personality have made him a fan favorite, and why the Jets and Jaguars were among the teams that interviewed him for their head coaching vacancies.

Spagnuolo had a chance with the Rams from 2009-11, going 10-38 as a head coach. But the deck was stacked against him; the team was unsettled at quarterback, the most important position in the game, and was in the midst of a major rebuilding effort.

Andy Reid would love to see his longtime friend get another chance. But in the meantime, he’s thankful Spagnuolo and so much of his defensive staff have remained intact for several years, providing consistency on that side of the ball.

“They know the scheme like the back of their hand. Spags has confidence in them and then the players have confidence in their coaches and Spags,” Reid said. “You have to stay focused during the meetings, you have to detail it at practice, you have to detail the walkthroughs that you do meetings on the field. Then, most of all, you have to execute it on game day. But there’s that trust, that whole foundation that you’ve built with the trust and these guys, they’ve got that.

“Then, likewise, I have the confidence in Spags and in certain situations. I don’t run over to him and go, ‘Hey, let’s not do that or this.’ I have enough confidence in him and been around him long enough to know he’s going to make the right call.”

___

Republished with permission of The Associated Press.

Post Views: 0