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Mack Hollins
The Patriots wide receiver seems to be quite serious. I hope he brought another outfit for later, especially if the Pats lose.
Mack Hollins dressed Hannibal Lechter-ish for his arrival. Photograph: Charlie Riedel/APShare
E-mail!
This in from Steve Robinson:
“Like you David, I’m struggling to choose who to support. As a Niners fan, do I really want a division rival to win it all on our turf, especially given they smashed us out of the playoffs? But I can’t get up any enthusiasm for the Patriots and I really don’t want to see Kraft lift the Lombardi again.”
Yeah, it’s very tough. Like pouring lemon juice on a cut. No thanks!
Defens(s)e!
I loved the take from Andrew Beaton of the WSJ, that both of these coaches came from defensive backgrounds in an era where offense seems to dominate the game in almost every way. The coaching match-up goes against the grain, with the last six Super Bowls have been led by offensive brains. In 60, the bosses are Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, who attended the University of Harbaugh, coaching defense with the Ravens and at Michigan, while Pats coach Mike Vrabel played linebacker for Bill Belichick’s Patriots, learning from possibly the best defensive mind of all-time. Does that mean we have a 2009 Rams/Patriots type 13-3 game in our near future? Likely not – offenses mostly abuse defenses in the NFL nowadays, but perhaps these coaches will find a way to tie up these quarterbacks and slow down any impending track meet. That’s one way of saying “take the under”.
Here comes a regular!
Our loyal reader Roger Kirkby is always with us, and he would like us to know that…
“…my stats tell me that New England have never won a Super Bowl on the west coast (Arizona is the closest they’ve come). I see it staying that way and am hoping for a Seattle rampage in the first half so I don’t have to stay up all night.”
I don’t think it’s gonna happen that way Roger. I have New England with the upset special, 27-17, mostly thanks to a genius game-plan from the Pats head coach Mike Vrabel.
From the Editor!
Please enjoy this message from big boss man Tom Lutz who is at the game.
“Hello from sunny Santa Clara, where it’s a beautiful, warm winter’s day. The teams are warming up on the field – the Patriots in white and the Seahawks in blue. From the press box, it looks like a 50-50 split of fans. although there were slightly more New England fans in San Francisco this weekend.”
and…
“There were a few signs of anti-ICE protests on the way to the stadium. A bridge over the highway was strewn with upside-down US flags as protestors held anti-ICE signs and urged passing motorists to honk their horns in support of immigrants. My coach driver didn’t, but she was on official NFL business so I guess she wanted to stay neutral.”
Updated at 17.59 EST
Black National Anthem
Coco Jones is the Grammy Award-winning R&B artist on the field in Santa Clara as we get closer to kickoff and actual football! Will it be worth the wait?
Coco Jones performs during the Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium. Photograph: Neilson Barnard/Getty ImagesShare
I wanted to be with you alone…
…and talk about the weather.
I’m looking at the weather forecast for Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, and it seems that the threat of rain has dissipated and it’s clear skies ahead. The temps? Much milder than the Brooklyn igloo I’m typing in. It’ll be about 66 degrees Fahrenheit at kick off, that’s around 19 Celsius if you’re scoring at home, and your home is metric. It’ll drop to around 56/15 with winds out of northwest with gusts up to a measly seven mph. So this will be a quite the change for the Pats, who played, more or less, in two blizzards in route to Super Bowl 60. Advantage New England!
Orchids of Asia
It sounds like an exhibit at The Bronx Botanical Garden, but it’s actually the Florida “spa” that Patriots owner Robert Kraft was picked up at following a sting operation at the Jupiter massage joint a few years back. Well, this weekend, TMZ reported that Bill Belichick’s girlfriend Jordon Hudson was spotted wearing a t-shirt with an Orchids of Asia logo. The font selection is suspect, but the elite level trolling by Belichick, who is no fan of Kraft, and his company can not be debated. Apparently, it’s set off quite the reaction amongst a certain Patriots super fan. Just another fun Super Bowl wrinkle!
Updated at 17.40 EST
Let us pray…
According to the folks digging up every possible stat possible in the run up to the Super Bowl, the Seahawks have quite the link to, you guessed it, 21st-century popes.
Seattle have reached the Super Bowl each year a new pope took the reigns at the Vatican, losing to the Steelers in 2005/2006, burying the Broncos in 2013/2014 48-3, and now, with the new Boss Leo letting down his home town Bears, they’re back, looking to go over .500.
The bad news is that popes don’t die that often and Leo seems quite healthy, so don’t bet on a Seattle dynasty!
Updated at 17.53 EST
Hello!
…and welcome to our live coverage of the Super Bowl!
First off, just let me say that I’m 100% committed to a Latin free Big Show blog. So for those of us not living in the Roman Empire, let’s say it clearly: this is the 60th version of the AFC-NFC Championship Game, and it’s a match-up that few would have put a flutter on way back in September when the season began. If you had, you’d have done quite well: the odds of the Seahawks and Patriots facing off for the Lombardi trophy were 4800 to 1, which is on the hail Mary side of a long shot. And yet here they are, getting set to get to kick off in about an hour-and-a-half from now. That means the fan bases on opposite ends of the country are starting to get that squirm in the stomach while the rest of us relax and dip our chips under no pressure whatsoever.
But what about the neutrals? Who are they supporting? Personally, I’ve found it quite difficult to peg my loyalty to one of these clubs. Why? Because there’s no underdog I’ve been able to grow closer to. The Seahawks are the favorites, and who wants to just jump on the bandwagon? Lame! That said, they do have the ultimate quarterback underdog leading their team. Sam Darnold is an all-time draft bust that bloomed long after his NFL draft obit was written. He put together back-to-back playoff seasons and wiped out the elite 49ers and Rams en route to the Super Bowl. Nobody saw that coming, and it’s warm and fuzzy, but again, he’s playing with the favorites. So now what? The Patriots? They’re underdogs, with Vegas handing them a 4.5 point lead. Regardless, they’re the biggest Massholes of all-time, owners of six Super Bowl titles, a couple of scandals, a coach that was detested and a pretty-boy QB who was annoyingly awesome. If you’re not a Patriots fan, the last thing you want is another decade of Robert Kraft and company.
So there’s no true, obvious underdog in this Super Bowl, which leads me to the question: which do you want to see in the confetti shower tonight and why? Let me know and we’ll get your name in the paper and chew this one out together. E-mail me on david.lengel@theguardian.com and i’ll make you famous.
More to come, stick with us!
Updated at 17.15 EST
Anti-ICE sentiment has made an appearance at the big gameAnti-ICE protesters have passed out towels reading “ICE out” to fans heading into Levi’s Stadium for the game. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesShare
Seattle’s Aden Durde will be the first British coach to appear in the Super Bowl. He wants to ensure he’s not the last.
A great story by Melissa Jacobs:
A good pregame read: Guardian US arts writer Adrian Horton on Bad Bunny – the ultrapopular star who will take over the Super Bowl half-time show and will continue to be at the center of the US culture wars:
Who is going to win? What will the score be? Who will be MVP?
Our team of experts have predictions for all of that and more:
ShareA view outside of Levi’s Stadium. Photograph: Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
Fans are starting to arrive at Levi’s Stadium ahead of the showpiece event
David will be here shortly. In the meantime, here are our writers’ score predictions:
The final score will be …
Seahawks 27-24 Patriots. The best unit on the field is Seattle’s defense. After that, everything else feels like a wash. The Seahawks pass-rush is relentless and runs deep; they had six different players record at least 35 pressures this year, while no other team had more than four such players. The Patriots’ offensive line is vulnerable – and pass rushers typically decide championship games. It’s going to take a special performance from Maye (and maybe a trick play to rob a possession) to keep the Patriots in it. Oliver Connolly
Seahawks. By a lot. The Seahawks are a top-to-bottom juggernaut that can beat you so many ways. New England’s high blitz-rate success has gotten them this far, but Seattle can beat them so many ways. Quarterback protection? Check. Staunch run game? Check. High-octane passing attack? Check. Seattle’s offense is essentially quarterback proof, especially when your quarterback can compartmentalize his rags-to-riches story. Meanwhile, New England’s offense is not quite quarterback-proof, and Maye’s miscues will hurt the Patriots much more than in their three previous matchups. It’s easy to envision Maye forcing poor throws once blinded by Seattle’s defense, and Vrabel and McDaniels getting too cutesy once down a couple of scores. Melissa Jacobs
Seahawks 27-17 Patriots. Darnold settles down and plays yet another clean playoff game on the way to claiming MVP honors and cementing the signature win of his career at last, in a redemption story that gives critics more reason to pile on the Jets for holding up his progress. Mike Macdonald makes coaching defense sexy again and the loss of Kubiak – reportedly bound for Las Vegas after this game – begins the talent raid on the Seattle coaching staff. The Patriots put up a valiant fight, but Maye’s arm proves too weak in the end – but the loss just sets them up for an epic revenge tour that ends with right back in this same spot next year. Andrew Lawrence
Seahawks 17-27 Patriots. Gonzalez wins the matchup with Smith-Njigba, shrinking the options for Darnold, who regresses for all the world to see. It’s not because Darnold isn’t good: he’s an excellent quarterback and a wonderful story, and I’m happy for him, really. He’s just about to face an upstart coaching staff that has the gameplan and the pieces to make Darnold uncomfortable, frustrated and mistake prone. Maye will have just enough to get in the endzone twice, and will be helped by an interception by Gonzalez that he takes to the house. That means we have to see more of postgame Robert Kraft amid the red, white and blue confetti. Yuck. David Lengel
Seahawks 31-32 Patriots. The rise of a team written off in August as 70-1 rank outsiders is a heartwarming tale often lost in a sport dominated by extreme wealth, statistics and hot takes. Yes, their schedule was “easy” – and they even lost to the Raiders – yet here we are. No team with preseason odds longer than 40-1 have won the Super Bowl since Tom Brady’s legendary first win in the 2001 season. Coincidence? Graham Searles