By Dan Dove
Super Bowl 50 is almost here with all its razzmatazz and drama.
Here’s what you need to know to get excited for this late night spectacle on Super Bowl Sunday.
Who?
The game will be between Denver Broncos (AFC Champions) and Carolina Panthers (NFC Champions).
When?
Super Bowl 50 will be taking place on Sunday the 7th February and kick off is at 11:30pm. The coverage starts at 10:50pm on BBC TWO whilst being rivalled at 10pm on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 3.
Where?
The 50th edition of one of the worlds most watched events will be held in the sunny west coast state of California. All the action will be inside the Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco… technically Santa Clara.
Why?
The Super Bowl is the biggest game within the NFL. It is viewed as the ultimate prize for any American in sport.
The game is set to be watched by over 150 million people worldwide and will be contested between the champions from the AFC (American Football Conference) and the NFC (National Football Conference).
These champions of course being the Denver Broncos (AFC) and the Carolina Panthers (NFC).
How?
Brace yourself, its going to hit you all at once but I’ll try help you through the process.
Each conference (NFC/AFC) is made up of four regional divisions (North, South, East, West), of which have four sides within them. The winners of each of these groups proceed to the play-offs with the best two teams getting a bye in the wildcard round. The two spaces are then filled by the two teams with the next-best records in each of the conferences.
The winners of the wildcard round then proceed to the divisional round where they meet the two best teams from their conference that received a bye in the previous round. The victors of the divisional round then move onto the penultimate game, to fight it out for the conference championship and book a place in the Super Bowl.
Are you still with me? If not let’s have a halftime break…. talking of half-time, this year the big blockbuster entertainment is going to be brought to you by Coldplay, Beyonce and Bruno Mars. Brilliant right!
Road to the final
This year the AFC game was between defending Super Bowl champions led by Tom Brady, the New England Patriots, they faced off against Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos who were thrashed in the 2014 Super Bowl by Seattle Seahawks.
The Patriots steamed ahead taking a 21-7 lead against the Broncos in the mile high snowy conditions. However, Manning led the team to a come back to take the game into overtime at 24-24. The men from Denver overcame their opponents to come out as victors with a score of 24-30.
The NFC championship game couldn’t have been a greater contrast to the tight encounter of the AFC.
The Arizona Cardinals took on the high scoring Carolina Panthers in a massively one sided game. Cam Newton, the dabbing extrovert, show pieced an offensive master class and took his Panthers to the Super Bowl with a massive win of 15-49 over the Cardinals.
Winner?
Many experts, fans and bookies all have the Panthers as massive favourites as this season they have a near perfect record of 15-1, losing just one game.
They posses one of the most exciting prospects in the NFL in the shape of box-office quarter-back Cam Newton who was the No.1 draft back in 2011. Alongside a great passing technique he also loves leaving the pocket (wall of protection) and scoring touchdowns himself. He ran the furthest as a QB in the whole of the 2015 regular season amounting a total of 636 yards.
However don’t count the Broncos out, they have one of the meanest defences within the NFL. They also have legend QB Peyton Manning who leads with the most passing yards in the history of the NFL at over 71,000 yards.
Whatever the outcome, one thing is certain that this game is going to be one of the biggest sporting events this year. My advice… book Monday off, it’s going to be a late one.