Will You Be Watching Super Bowl LIX?

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Will You Be Watching Super Bowl LIX?

In The Athletic, the sports service from The New York Times Company, Mike Jones outlines the top story lines to follow ahead of the big game. Here are three:

Eagles-Chiefs rematch

Two years after they met in Arizona for Super Bowl LVII, the Eagles and Chiefs face each other again.

Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts delivered a dazzling performance in his Super Bowl debut, passing for 304 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 70 yards and three more touchdowns. His Eagles held a 27-21 lead entering the fourth quarter before the Chiefs scored back-to-back touchdowns to take a 35-27 lead with 9:22 left to play. Hurts and the Eagles responded with another touchdown drive, but in the final five minutes of action, Patrick Mahomes marched his team downfield for a 27-yard Harrison Butker field goal with eight seconds left for the 38-35 victory.

Chiefs’ pursuit of history

With three Super Bowl victories in five years, the Chiefs already have achieved dynasty status. But they’re not done yet. They have their sights set on additional historic feats.

A victory Sunday would make the Chiefs the first team to win three Super Bowls in a row. Kansas City also would join the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers as teams with five Lombardi Trophies, trailing only the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers, who have six.

Mahomes has a personal legacy to add to. If he wins Sunday, he’ll tie Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana for the second-most Super Bowl victories by a quarterback, with four. Tom Brady leads the list with seven rings.

Officiating under the microscope

… Officiating came under scrutiny again in this year’s AFC Championship Game because of two controversial plays. On one, Chiefs receiver Xavier Worthy was awarded a catch even though Bills safety Cole Bishop also appeared to possess the ball, which also seemed to hit the ground (but didn’t move). On another, the Chiefs were deemed to have stopped Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen on a fourth-and-1 sneak attempt, even though some camera angles appeared to show Allen crossing the line to gain a first down. Replay review upheld both calls, but that hasn’t quieted skeptics, who believe the Chiefs receive favorable treatment from game officials.

The Chiefs, Eagles, their fans and the N.F.L. as a whole can only hope this Super Bowl isn’t decided by any controversial calls.

Are there other Super Bowl stories you may be following?

Perhaps you have been noticing the rise in fashionable football apparel:

Almost exactly a year ago, Kristin Juszczyk, the wife of the San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who had been happily D.I.Y.-ing her own game-day merch, became the Cinderella of her own fashion fairy tale when Taylor Swift wore one of Ms. Juszczyk’s custom-made jackets to watch her new boyfriend, Travis Kelce, play football. Before you could say touchdown, she had 1.2 million Instagram followers, a licensing deal with the N.F.L. and was chosen to make a jacket for the winner of the Indy 500.

… or you have been looking forward to Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance:

After sweeping the Grammys on Sunday, Lamar’s ubiquitous Drake diss could be the centerpiece of the halftime show. That, it bears mentioning, is pretty strange.

… or you have been following the news that the N.F.L. might remove the “End Racism” messaging in the end zones ahead of Sunday’s game:

At his annual Super Bowl news conference Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell strongly supported the league’s policies designed to promote diversity at the club-employment level and said they would continue.

But during Super Bowl LIX, and with President Donald Trump apparently planning to attend on Sunday, the NFL might be making another kind of statement on the Caesars Superdome field itself. According to two league sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, league officials recently changed one of the slogans expected to be stenciled in the back of an end zone from “End Racism” to “Choose Love.”

Students, read one or more of the articles above, and then tell us:

  • Are you planning to watch Super Bowl LIX? If so, what are you most looking forward to — the game, the commercials, the parties, the halftime show or something else? If you’re not planning to watch, why not?

  • If you’re a football fan, what do you think of the matchup between Kansas City and Philadelphia? Which side are you rooting for? What team do you think will win? Which players do you think will stand out and why?

  • Which Super Bowl story has been most compelling to you? Is it one of the stories mentioned above or another that you’ve been following on your own? Whatever it is, tell us why it has your attention.

  • What do you think about the choice of Kendrick Lamar as the halftime performer? If you could see anyone perform at the Super Bowl, who would it be, and why?

  • What predictions do you have about the game or anything else related to it, such as which way the coin toss will go, how long Jon Batiste will sing the national anthem or whether Travis Kelce will propose to Taylor Swift after the game? (Yes, those are all real bets fans are making ahead of this year’s game.)

  • Why do you think the Super Bowl is such a big deal in American culture? Is it more than just a game? What do you think it means culturally, and why?