Super Bowl LV: What you need to know
This is the primer for this year’s Super Bowl, which features the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who will be the first team to play the big game in their home stadium.
When
Sunday, Feb. 7, at 3:30 p.m.
Where
Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
TV/streaming
CBS, CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports app.
Odds
The Chiefs are favored by 3½ points, and the over/under is 57 points.
Expected crowd
About 22,000 fans will attend, which is 30 percent of capacity. The NFL is providing 7,500 tickets to health-care workers who have been vaccinated for COVID-19. But other fans will not need the vaccine.
Game lead-up
The week before the Super Bowl is usually all about hype, but the coronavirus has forced the league to scrap the in-person media day. Interviews will be conducted virtually, and other Super Bowl-related events will be online.
Because the Bucs are at home, they already will be on site, but the Chiefs probably won’t arrive until the Friday before the game. Both participating teams usually are in the Super Bowl city a week ahead of time.
Halftime act
The Weeknd, whose album “After Hours” was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for four consecutive weeks, is the headline performer.
performing on the iconic stage. see you 02/07/21 @pepsi #pepsihalftime #SBLV pic.twitter.com/oYlQyvKRwh
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) November 12, 2020
National anthem
Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church. H.E.R. will perform “America the Beautiful.”
Bucs’ Super Bowl history
As Raiders fans know, Jon Gruden coached the Bucs to the 2002 season championship, which is Tampa Bay’s only appearance. The opponent? The Raiders. The Bucs rolled to a 48-21 victory. Gruden was traded by the Raiders the year before. He, of course, is in his second act with the Raiders.
Chiefs’ Super Bowl history
The Chiefs won last season’s game, rallying to beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 for their second championship. Their second appearance occurred in the 1969 season, a 23-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Kansas City also appeared in the first Super Bowl, but was beaten 35-10 by the Green Bay Packers.
Star power
Bucs quarterback Tom Brady makes his 10th Super Bowl appearance, and many regard him as the greatest of all time. All nine of his prior trips were with the New England Patriots, whom Brady led to six championships.
His heir apparent is Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, who will be trying to repeat his title. Many consider Mahomes the best quarterback now, and considering he’s only 25, he one day could put up a resume that rivals or even overtakes Brady’s.
Previous meeting
These teams faced each other in November, with the Chiefs emerging at Tampa with a 27-24 victory. Mahomes passed for 462 yards and three touchdowns, and Tyreek Hil caught 13 passes for 269 yards and three TDs.
Against the Raiders
Las Vegas’ home team has played both teams a combined three times, and the Raiders even handed the Chiefs their only loss in which Mahomes started, coming away from Kansas City with a 40-32 victory. The Raiders were so giddy after the October win that they even took a victory lap.
The teams played an epic game six weeks later in a Sunday night nationally televised meeting. After the Raiders took a three-point lead with 1:43 left, Mahomes led the Chiefs to the touchdown with 28 seconds remaining to leave Las Vegas as 35-31 winners.
Tampa Bay visited Allegiant Stadium in late October. Brady passed for 369 yards and four touchdowns in the Bucs’ 45-20 victory.
Road to the Super Bowl
As the fifth seed in the NFC, the Bucs literally took the road to the Super Bowl, winning at the Washington Football Team, New Orleans Saints and Green Bay. It was a different path for the Chiefs, who as the AFC’s top seed, received a first-round bye before defeating the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills at home.
Still waiting
These eight teams have played in the Super Bowl but never won it: Bills (four times), Minnesota Vikings (four), Atlanta Falcons (two), Carolina Panthers (two), Cincinnati Bengals (two), Arizona Cardinals (one), Los Angeles Chargers (one) and Tennessee Titans (one).
These four have never appeared in the Super Bowl: Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars.
