Super Bowl LVII: All you need to know about the NFL finale

It’s that time of year again where Super Bowl Sunday (or Monday for us Aussies) is just around the corner and sports fans down under are left trying to wrap their heads around American Football’s showpiece event.

Thankfully, Yahoo Sport is here to get you up to speed with a comprehensive guide to this year’s edition of the biggest annual sporting event on the planet.

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When is kickoff?

Super Bowl LVII kicks off at 10.30am AEDT on Monday, February 13 and is likely to go for around 3.5 hours.

How can I watch?

Free-to-air broadcaster Channel 7 will be showing the game live, as well as streaming it on 7Plus, while viewers can also catch all the action on ESPN via Foxtel or Kayo subscriptions. Broadcasts start at 9:30am AEDT.

What teams are playing?

Super Bowl LVII will see the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Chiefs finished as the top team in the AFC with 14 wins and just 3 losses, before progressing through to the Super Bowl with a nail-biting 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the Conference Championship. Having won a Super Bowl as recently as 2020, this Chiefs line-up has arguably more big-game experience than the Eagles, but it remains to be seen how much that counts for on game day.

The Eagles also finished the regular season with a 14-3 record and have so far breezed through the playoffs with an average margin of victory of 27.5 points. However, questions remain about the strength of the opponents they’ve faced throughout the season, with the Chiefs undoubtedly having faced the tougher schedule in order to get to the big dance.

The Eagles last won the Super Bowl in 2018, when they defeated Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. For what it’s worth, most bookies are expecting a tight contest, with the Eagles currently 1.5 point favourites to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Who are the key players?

Unsurprisingly, the key players to watch during the contest are the respective quarterbacks on each team. There’s a reason why 14 of the last 22 Super Bowl MVPs have been quarterbacks and both Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Jalen Hurts of the Bengals stand to have a major impact on the outcome of the game.

Mahomes and Hurts will make history when they take the field together on Monday morning, with Super Bowl LVII becoming the first to be contested by two black starting quarterbacks.

Mahomes comes into the game under somewhat of an injury cloud, having suffered a high ankle sprain during the Divisional Round four weeks ago. However, he managed to get through the Conference Championship win over the Bengals unscathed and Chiefs coach Andy Reid is adamant Mahomes is physically capable of running every play in the Kansas City’s playbook.

Hurts meanwhile, is coming off a breakout season that has seen him take the Eagles’ offence to new heights. It should be noted that Hurts was unavailable in two of Philly’s three losses this season. Like Mahomes, he’s as much of a threat running the ball as he is passing, which should make for some creative and entertaining play calls on game day.

Where is it being played?

State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona will play host to the event. It will be the third time the venue has hosted a Super Bowl

Constructed in 2006 for $USD 455 million, the indoor stadium has a capacity of 63,400 and features grass field that can be transported outside the venue in order for it to get sunlight.

Who’s performing the half-time show?

For many viewers, the half-time show is the real highlight of the Super Bowl experience.

This year’s performer is pop icon Rihanna although rumours are already circulating that she’ll be joined on stage by other famous artists who feature in her songs, such as Jay-Z and Drake.

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