All roads lead to Super Bowl XLIX
Transcription
All roads lead to Super Bowl XLIX
All roads lead to Super Bowl XLIX By DAN LADD Another great NFL season is in the books and there’s but one game left to play: the Super Bowl. On Feb. 1 more households in America will tune in to NBC late Sunday afternoon (on the East Coast) to catch the Super Bowl and all the fanfare that surrounds it. That, of course, includes the entertaining commercials and this year’s Halftime show by Katy Perry. The Super Bowl remains the world’s third largest sporting event and the biggest on the North American Continent. But that wasn’t always the case. In the 1960s the NFL was popular, but not as popular as baseball. And, the league was fending off yet another competitor in the form of the American Football League. In 1966 the two leagues reached an agreement to merge by 1970, but would play an AFL-NFL World Championship football game at the culmination of the upcoming season. The Green Bay Packers of the NFL won those first two World Championships and by the time the third game came around the game was now commonly referred to as the Super Bowl. At first it seemed like the NFL teams would dominate the game. Then the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs won the next two Super Bowls. When the merger finally took place, the Baltimore Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns of the NFL joined the American Football Conference with former AFL teams, which is still known today as the American Football Conference, or AFC. The National Football Conference, or NFC, was made up of NFL teams. The Colts won Super Bowl V in 1971 as an AFC team, beating the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC, who would win Super Bowl VI a year later. Other than the Cowboys, the Super Bowl winners for the remainder of the decade would be AFC teams. This included two championships by the Miami Dolphins and four by the Pittsburgh Steelers. AFL/NFL comparison became a moot point. By the 1980s the Super Bowl was such a successful television product that it was now moved to the early Sunday evening prime-time slot, where it would be subject to the most viewers. The NFL was now the most popular sports league in America and cashed in on television revenue like never before. Those who paid little attention to football during the regular season tuned in to the Super Bowl to watch the game and the commercials and often host parties around the big game. Super Bowl Sunday is now second only to Thanksgiving for single day food consumption. For the most part, the 1980s belonged to two teams from California: the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, who won two Super Bowls early in the decade, and the San Francisco 49ers who won four. Along with 49ers victories, a string of wins by other NFC teams in the 1980s that included the Washington Redskins, New York Giants and Chicago Bears resulted in a 17-year NFC winning streak that began in 1985 when the 49ers won Super Bowl XIX. In the 1990s the Dallas Cowboys would win three Super Bowls in four years and Green Bay would return to former glory before John Elway’s Denver Broncos finally ended the NFC winning streak in 1998. Some say the Cowboys would’ve won more titles if the NFL hadn’t induced free agency and a salary cap. These began a new era for the NFL that is still in place today and has changed the way teams operate. Still, teams like the New England Patriots, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers have won multiple © 2015 Courtesy of Gracenote titles in the past decade-and-a-half. That’s not to say that parity hasn’t reared its head as it seems like the Super Bowl has become a revolving door of surprise teams. Today’s NFL rewards consistency and is a league that requires teams to have solid management, good coaching and most of all, a good quarterback. The two teams about to square off in Super Bowl XLIX certainly fit this mold. For the Seattle Seahawks, it is their second straight trip to the Super Bowl. Since hiring coach Pete Carroll in 2010 the Seahawks have only missed one Postseason. They hit it big when they drafted quarterback Russell Wilson in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft. They haven’t looked back since. On the other side of the scrimmage line is Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Brady, and coach Bill Belichick are the epitome of a successful coachquarterback combination. One way or another, they are always in the hunt; this time with the usual bend-but-don’tbreak style of defense, a respectable running game and Brady’s arm. It’s fitting that the two best teams at the end of the regular season are playing for a title. Sit back, and tune in. This should be a good one. Page New England Patriots Tom Brady Jamie Rob Gronkowski Collins Regular Season Record: 12-4 Seed: 1 Playoff Victories: Baltimore (35-31); Indianapolis, (45-7) Coach: Bill Belichick Key Players: Tom Brady (QB); Rob Gronkowski (TE); Jamie Collins (LB) Offensive Rank: 11th (Pass, 9th, Rush, 18th) Defensive Rank: 13th (Pass, 17th; Rush, 9th) Road to Victory: The Patriots put together a solid regular season by taking care of business on all sides of the ball. The late-season acquisition of Bill Belichick running back LeGarrette Blount solidified the offense which was already rolling thanks to a healthy Rob Gronkowski. The Pats looked to be in trouble early on in their divisional round playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens, but with the help of some trickery they pulled it out before manhandling the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship. This will be the Pats sixth trip to the Super Bowl but they haven’t won one since Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005. The key to beating Seattle will be protecting quarterback Tom Brady from the Seahawks’ aggressive defense, which they can do by running the ball. On defense, the Pats will have to contain quarterback Russell Wilson who proved in the NFC Championship game that his team is never out of it. Address: 1 Cardinals Drive Glendale, Arizona Construction Costs: $455 million Primary Tenants: Arizona Cardinals Unique Designs: Retractable roof, expandable seating, no obstructed views Seating Capacity: 63,400 Executive Suites: 88 Parking: 14,000 Playing Surface: Tifway 419 Hybrid Bermuda Grass Year Opened: 2006 Notable Previous Events: Fiesta Bowl (2007present); BCS National Championship Game (2007, 2011); Super Bowl XLII (2008) Future Events: 2017 NCAA Basketball Final Four in 2017 University of Phoenix Stadium Page SUPER BOWL XLIX PREVIEW Seattle Seahawks Pete Carroll Marshawn Byron Maxwell Lynch Regular Season Record: 12-4 Seed: 1 Playoff Victories: Carolina (31-17); Green Bay (28-22) Coach: Pete Carroll Key Players: Russell Wilson (QB): Marshawn Lynch (RB); Byron Maxwell (CB) Offensive Rank: 9th (Pass, 27th, Rush, 1st) Defensive Rank: 1st (Pass, 1st, Rush, 3rd) Road to Victory: The Seahawks found out quickly this season how hard it is to repeat as champions. Yet, here they are. Their dramatic comeback win Russell Wilson over Green Bay in the NFC Championship game was reflective of a regular season in which they lost a few games they should’ve won early on, and then put the defensive clamps down on opponents later in the season. The offense has been sluggish at times, but is always capable of striking back as was evident in the NFC Championship. Seattle matches up well with New England. Their defense is exactly the type that can give Tom Brady fits by providing tight coverage on their receivers while putting pressure on the veteran quarterback. However, Russell Wilson and the offense will have to do their jobs against the Patriots for Seattle to win. If they turn the ball over and don’t convert on third down, the Pats will make them pay. Super Bowl records held by quarterbacks* Passer Rating: 127.8, Joe Montana, San Francisco 49ers in 4 games Touchdowns/Career: 11, Joe Montana, San Francisco 49ers in 4 games *Source: NFL Longest Pass Completion: 85 yards (TD), Jake Delhomme, Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII Highest Completion Percentage: 70% (56 of 80), Troy Aikman, Dallas Cowboys in 3 games Passing Yards/Game: 414, Kurt Warner, St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV Touchdowns/Game: 6, Steve Young, San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX Passing Yards/Career: 1,277, Tom Brady, New England Patriots in 5 games Completions/Game: 32, Tom Brady, New England Patriots, Super Bowl XXXVIII Completions/Career: 127 by Tom Brady, New England Patriots in 5 games © 2015 Courtesy of Gracenote Page Katy Perry adds fuel to Super Bowl By JAY BOBBIN Don’t be surprised if this year’s Super Bowl halftime show ends up resembling a giant firework. That would be in keeping not only with the occasion, but also with the star of the show. Katy Perry will follow in the recent footsteps of such artists as Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, Madonna and the Black Eyed Peas as the halftime headliner for the big game at the University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 1. It bears mention that Perry – who will have Lenny Kravitz as her “special guest” – is doing it her way, since the National Football League initially had floated the idea of having the chosen entertainer pay for the privilege. Perry was on the short list, but her response at the time was, ”I’m not the sort of girl who would pay to play the Super Bowl” … and, indeed, she won’t be. Ultimately, everyone involved is likely to win big. NBC is sure to retain a huge viewership for the approximately 14-minute show; Pepsi will get a big return on its sponsorship of the performance; and Perry herself will cement, if not increase (which is quite probable), her fan base. Since she’s about to continue her Prismatic World Tour overseas, she’s clearly ready to take center stage at football’s top event. ‘The Blacklist’ makes a Super (Bowl) return James Spader Raymond “Red” Reddington isn’t someone who ordinarily needs much help, but he’s getting a major boost anyway. “The Blacklist” resumes its second NBC season Sunday, Feb. 1, as the show chosen to follow one of the biggest events of any television year: the Super Bowl. The special telecast also serves to promote the suspense drama’s move to a different night, since the episode will lead directly into the series’ debut in its new slot the following Thursday. “With the sort of landscape for programming nowadays, we’ve been very lucky in that right from the jump, we established a fairly faithful audience,” says James Spader, alias ever-enigmatic informant Reddington. “The network and the studio, obviously, are always looking for a way to grow that if they can … and trying to find ways to do that today is difficult. I think the Super Bowl is a platform that stands alone, and you just hope the game is good enough that they don’t turn their TVs off.” That doesn’t appear likely for the devotees who helped make “The Blacklist” last season’s top-rated new series. Megan Boone, who also stars as FBI agent Liz Keen – Reddington’s main interest in supplying information on the list of elusive criminals and terrorists – promises “more substantial feelings of friendship and care for Reddington, who has proven to protect her at all costs, and in a way that no one ever has before. By JAY BOBBIN She steps up to try to protect him when we come back.” Spader vows many more mysteries about Reddington remain to be uncovered, particularly about his link to Liz – which prompted him to warn her deceptive and dangerous ex, Tom (Ryan Eggold), to stay away from her in the closing moments of the series’ November fall finale. “I remember when I first read the pilot,” Spader reflects, “which seems like a decade ago, but was actually only two years ago. At that time, I remember thinking that one of the things I responded to was that possible paths the show could take were limitless. “You at least had the framework for switched paths and alternate routes … and you could find your way back again. Something that just seems sort of neat at the time can turn into something much more significant than that later on.” On a similar track, Boone is looking forward to continuing to advance Liz, reasoning the character has “become more autonomous in her decisionmaking and her actions. Certainly last year, she was more reactionary because so much that was happening was overwhelming to her, I think. “The minute she made the decision to lie to Red about (capturing and hiding) Tom, rather than him being dead, everything changed,” adds Boone. “She became a little nefarious, like some of the Blacklisters. And like Red himself.” Page SUPER BOWL XLIX PREVIEW