Many people across the world know about the Super Bowl, but some say they won’t be watching it this year due to a reappearance of the five-time Super Bowl champions and 2000’s dynasty, New England Patriots. Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the Patriots have made their way to their ninth Super Bowl of the 2000’s by having an 11-5 record and having a first round bye in the playoffs. In the divisional round, the Patriots defeated the fifth seed Los Angeles Chargers 41-28 to advance to the AFC (American Football Conference) Championship game to face the first seeded Kansas City Chiefs.

Though the Chiefs gave a hard fight, the Patriots were able to pull out the win with a score of 37-31 with help from Tom Brady who had 348 passing yards and advanced to their third straight Super Bowl appearance. “I feel like Patriots rise to the occasion. They weren’t the best team in the AFC but when it came end of the season they did very well.” said Nate Gutshall, social studies teacher and football fan.

Their opponent coming up this Sunday in Super Bowl 53, the Los Angeles Rams, had quite a different path to the big game. The Los Angeles Rams used their horns to push their way through the regular season with a record of 13-3. Due to that regular record, they earned the second seed in the NFC (National Football Conference) and got a first round bye in the playoffs. “ The Rams have a good blend of talent and coaching. They were able to minimize the mistakes that kept other teams from reaching the Super Bowl.”  said Timothy Kireta, social studies teacher and Denver Broncos superfan. In the divisional round the Rams were able to defeat the fourth seeded Dallas Cowboys 30-22 to advance to NFC Championship game where they would face off against the first seeded New Orleans Saints who defeated them in the regular season 45-35. Late in that NFC Championship game a very critical play happened. That play was the missed defensive pass interference call on Rams’ cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman who committed the missed penalty against Saints wide  receiver Tommy Lee Lewis late in the fourth quarter on 3rd and 10 with 1:45 left on the clock, the score being 20-20 with the game being tied. Many people believe that the missed penalty could very well have been the reason the Saints lost that game. The Saints then chose after the penalty wasn’t called to take a field goal and converted it. That made the score 23-20 with Saints in the lead, but it didn’t last long because right before the time ran out in the fourth quarter the Rams’ juggernaut of an offense with Jared Goff and Todd Gurley were able to make it to field goal range for their kicker. That field goal ended up being good and the Rams would tie the game up 23-23 and force overtime, in which they would win with a final score of 26-23 allowing the Rams to earn their spot in Super Bowl 53.

“I think there were bad calls before the penalty but definitely it was a terrible missed call and unfortunately the refs are human.” said Colton Bistline, sophomore and Indianapolis Colts superfan.That missed pass interference call made national headlines and left a lot of sports fans in general in an uproar. “I feel bad for both the Saints and the Rams that their appearance is somewhat stained by bad officiating.” said Angela Schneider, English teacher and Baltimore Ravens superfan. Though people are and were upset, the game must go on.

People around the world gather with friends to watch arguably the biggest sports event in the United States. Some people even have a certain tradition they will do every year for the Super Bowl  “We have friends over to our house, and we just watch and eat good food. Sometimes we bet quarters on what the score will be at certain times in the game. Also, we sometimes cook food from the area where the teams are from, but I’m not making baked beans this year!” said Schneider.

Football fans also have predictions about who will come away victorious.  Mike Berry, math teacher and Miami Dolphins fan, said, “I would like to Ram to win because it would make it interesting.”  Yet some people will treat this like any other Sunday. Hennessy Strine, sophomore, said, “I won’t be watching the game this Sunday because I don’t know enough about either team.”

*picture courtesy of Amy Curry, Under Armour

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