The biggest day on the American sports calendar is upon us again – here’s all you need to know for Super Bowl 56.
What time is the game?
The game kicks off at 10.30am (AEDT) on Monday, February 14.
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Where is it being held?
The game is being held at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, a state-of-the-art facility which opened last year and also serves as the Los Angeles Rams home ground.
Remarkably, it will be the second year in a row that the Super Bowl will be played at the home stadium of one of the participating teams, after never happening in the first 54 iterations of the big game.
The Rams, like Tampa Bay last year, could win the Super Bowl on their own patch.
Who’s playing?
The Cincinatti Bengals are in their first Super Bowl since 1989, while the Rams are back after losing to the Patriots in 2019.
How will the Rams win?
The Rams are four point favourites with the bookies, and deserve their status – a series of trades over the last couple of years, most notably for quarterback Matt Stafford, has the team in ‘win now’ mode, sending plenty of future draft capital to other teams to acquire players for this run.
A ferocious defensive line will have a huge advantage against a Bengals offensive line that allowed ten sacks against the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round, while their explosive offence has been unstoppable for most of the year.
If Stafford has time to throw and the Bengals can’t protect their quarterback Joe Burrow, it’s going to be one-way traffic.
How will the Bengals win?
Led by Burrow having a breakout season and a host of young playmakers around him, the Bengals offence has become one of the most-potent in the league when things are going well – but it’s their defence that has exceeded expectations in their last two games.
They stopped the Kansas City Chiefs from scoring a touchdown in the second half after falling into a 21-3 hole late in the first. That allowed them to rally back to equal the biggest comeback in AFC Championship Game history.
The Rams’ floor is higher than the Bengals, but the latter’s ceiling is arguably higher if they can get protection for their quarterback and he has time to find his army of young attacking weapons.
If field goals come into play as well, their rookie kicker Evan McPherson is having the best post-season by a kicker since Justin Tucker in 2012-13.
Have the Rams won the Super Bowl before?
The Rams won their only title in 2000, on an incredible final play where linebacker Mike Jones made one of the biggest plays in NFL history, tackling Tennessee Titans wide receiver Kevin Dyson one yard short of a potential game-tying touchdown.
They made it back to the Super Bowl two years later but lost to the New England Patriots, before losing to them again three years’ ago.
Have the Bengals won the Super Bowl before?
The Bengals have reached the Super Bowl twice, both in the 1980s, and were beaten by the San Francisco 49ers both times.
Since then they have struggled, not winning a play-off game for 31 years until their win over the Las Vegas Raiders a couple of weeks ago.
Who is on the Super Bowl half time show?
Singer Mary J. Blige – who performed in the 2001 Super Bowl alongside Aerosmith, Britney Spears, *NSYNC, and Nelly, is back. But this time she’ll be joined by some of the greatest rappers of all time, with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar joining her on the stage.
The Rock is also set to appear during the pre-game festivities.
What time is the half time show on?
It’s tough to give an exact time given it’s dependant on how long the first half goes for, but if you’re not interested in the game and just want to tune in for the half-time show, it will be at around midday (AEDT).
What about the commercials?
Unfortunately, the American commercials – some of which cost millions to get broadcast, such is the popularity of the event – are not shown here. You’ll have to check out YouTube afterwards.
How can I watch in Australia?
Wide World of Sports will have running coverage of Super Bowl 56 on the day in our live blog, including analysis, video and all the action as it happens. It will be broadcast by ESPN and 7Mate, and viewable online via NFL Game Pass.
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