Four years after the Kansas City Chiefs' victory over the San Francisco 49ers, both teams meet again in the 58th edition of the Super Bowl (3:30 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. in Mexico and 12:30 a.m. on Monday in Spain).
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the
Chiefs
, last year's champions, seek to become the first team in 19 years to win two consecutive titles in Las Vegas.
The Chiefs are not only trying to retain the Vince Lombardi trophy, but are also trying to establish themselves as the new great dynasty of American sports, with three championships in five years, something that no one has achieved since Tom Brady's Patriots.
In front are the San Francisco 49ers with their
quarterback
Brock Purdy at the helm, who was chosen in the last place in the 2022
draft
, which earned him the title of
Mister Irrelevant.
The Californians are seeking to win their first Super Bowl title in 29 years, which would equal the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers as the most winners in NFL history, with six championships.
In addition to the sports part, the event includes Usher in the intermission concert, with eight Grammy awards and more than 80 million records sold.
Of course, the artist has to compete for media attention with Taylor Swift, who goes to the final to see her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, a Chiefs player, in the midst of absurd conspiracy theories about her political support for Joe Biden.
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Miguel Jimenez
Taylor Swift has arrived on time
One of the unknowns when the Kansas City Chiefs qualified for the Super Bowl was whether singer Taylor Swift, girlfriend of player Travis Kelce, could attend, since she had a concert in Tokyo the day before.
The time difference played in her favor and Taylor Swift arrived at Allegiant Stadium with plenty of margin.
ACT.11 FEB 2024 - 22:50
American singer Reba McEntire, this week in Las Vegas.
/ ETIENNE LAURENT / EFE
Reba McEntire, in charge of singing the anthem
Reba McEntire arrived at Allegiant Stadium for the Super Bowl about three and a half hours before kickoff, wearing a gray faux fur coat and holding hands with her partner, Rex Linn.
McEntire will perform the national anthem before the Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of the Super Bowl from four years ago in Miami.
She will have her work cut out for her after Chris Stapleton's performance last year in Arizona received high praise.
ACT.11 FEB 2024 - 22:46
Miguel JiménezLuis Pablo BeauregardFrancesco ManettoMaría Porcel
Two hours until kickoff
Greetings from Las Vegas.
People begin to arrive at Allegiant Stadium, which is a few meters from the famous avenue known as the Strip, where most of the casinos and hotels are located.
And home of the Raiders, who left Oakland in 2020 to play in Nevada.
ACT.11 FEB 2024 - 22:44
Miguel Jimenez
Four 15-minute periods and many breaks
On the field they play 11 against 11, but the team is completely changed depending on whether they are attacking or defending.
Each team has up to 45 players.
The numbers depend on the positions on the field.
The game is played in four 15-minute quarters, but between clock stops, timeouts and halftime, it can last up to three hours.
The field is 120 yards (360 feet, 109.7 meters) long, counting the 100 yards of the playing field plus the 10 yards of end zone on each end.
The width is 160 feet (48.77 meters).
They are measurements equivalent to those of a somewhat narrow conventional football field.
ACT.11 FEB 2024 - 22:18
Miguel Jimenez
Four opportunities to advance at least 10 yards
The rules are multiple and complex, but the other essential one to know to enjoy the game is the one that refers to
downs
.
A
down
or opportunity is an action that begins when the ball is put into play.
A series of
downs
is composed of the four consecutive opportunities or
downs
from the line of scrimmage assigned to the offensive team during which it must advance the ball to the yard line called “yard to go” to retain possession.
The yard to reach is the point 10 yards (9.14 meters) in front of the center point that begins the series of
downs
, except when the goal line is less than 10 yards from that point.
In that case, the yard to reach is the goal line.
A completed
down
is one that is not nullified by any penalty or during which there is no change of possession.
It consists of a run, a pass or a combination of both.
Only one pass can be given per play, in addition to the put-in-play pass, in which the ball is given to the
quarterback
, protagonist of the offensive game, who in turn can hand the ball in a long pass, to a runner or advance himself if you find space and don't see a better alternative.
There are four attempts to gain at least 10 yards.
When you advance, you again have four other opportunities.
If this series is not achieved, possession is lost.
When they haven't completed 10 yards on the first three downs, teams often use the fourth to attempt a field goal or get the ball as far away as possible.
The complete official game rules in Spanish can be consulted here.
ACT.11 FEB 2024 - 22:17
Miguel Jimenez
General view of the interior of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas before the game.
/ MIKE BLAKE / REUTERS
Annotation forms
For readers unfamiliar with the rules, this is a very basic summary of some of them.
There are four ways to score points.
The most famous is the
touchdown
, which is achieved, basically, by reaching the end zone while running or with an aerial pass to a player on the same team.
A
touchdown
awards 6 points and gives the right to an additional one-point conversion by kicking over the crossbar and between the two vertical sticks (the conversion gives two points if a new play is completed in the end zone, although it is much more difficult and is attempted much less often).
A field goal is a kick to the goalposts in play, not after a
touchdown
, and scores 3 points.
There is also another way to score, a
safety
, which is the closest thing to an own goal and is not common.
A more detailed description of the punctuation forms can be found here.
ACT.11 FEB 2024 - 22:13
Miguel Jimenez
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy throws during pregame practice.
/ John Locher / AP
The 49ers seek their sixth championship title
The San Francisco 49ers, another of the NFL's great franchises, are seeking their sixth championship, which would tie them for titles with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tom Brady's New England Patriots.
San Francisco could also leave behind its eternal rival, the Dallas Cowboys, who also have five.
At the forefront of their offensive game they have Brock Purdy, the quarterback who has had a meteoric career since he became an NFL player, in 2022 after being chosen in the 262nd position, in the seventh round of the draft, in the last position.
Only 22 months after that, he played his first Super Bowl at the age of 24, the same age at which Mahomes won his first title, becoming the new great figure of San Francisco, a team that has pitchers like Steve Young and Joe Montana in the Hall of Fame.
In what has been his first full year as a starter, he led the 49ers to be the best team in their conference (12-5), just one victory behind the Baltimore Ravens (13-4), the team with the best record in the entire NFL in the regular season.
The playoffs arrived and San Francisco continued to overcome rivals until settling in for the final game against the Kansas City Chiefs of the almighty Patrick Mahomes, the final test.
ACT.11 FEB 2024 - 22:07
Miguel Jimenez
Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs before the game.
/ BRIAN SNYDER / REUTERS
The Chiefs' fourth appearance in five years
The Kansas City Chiefs are present in the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years after once again becoming champions of the American Conference (AFC).
They won the 54th edition in 2020, lost the next one against the Buccaneers, were left out of the final that the Los Angeles Rams won against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2022. And they won the Super Bowl again in 2023 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
They had a difficult start to the season.
Their attack had trouble finding rhythm and closing the regular season with 14 wins and 6 losses.
The doubts evaporated in the playoffs.
The team's experience was enough to crush Miami in the playoff (Wild Card), narrowly beat the Bills in the divisional round and defeat the best team in the NFL this year in the regular season in the conference finals. the Baltimore Ravens, whose
quarterback
, Lamar Jackson, won the season's MVP.
In addition to Mahomes, among the most notable figures of the Chiefs are Travis Kelce and Chris Jones.
ACT.11 FEB 2024 - 22:03
Miguel Jimenez
Duel of twenty-something quarterbacks
Much of the attention is on the two starting
quarterbacks
: Patrick Mahomes, for the Chiefs, and Brock Purdy, for the 49ers, two directors of the offensive game in their twenties.
Mahomes, 28, is trying to confirm himself as the successor to Tom Brady, who retired last year, and Purdy, 24, chosen in the last position of the 2022
draft
, is trying to demonstrate that the qualification of
Mr. Irrelevant
that was assigned to him He conceded that he couldn't be more wrong.
ACT.11 FEB 2024 - 22:00
Miguel Jimenez
Wilson's official Duke ball with Super Bowl logos at the NFL Experience at the Mandalay Bay South Convention Center.
/ Kirby Lee / USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
The LVIII edition of the Super Bowl, live
Welcome to the LVIII edition of the Super Bowl, the game that crowns the champion of the National Football League (NFL), the professional American football championship.
It is the most important sporting event each year in the United States.
They face last year's champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, against the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas (Nevada).
The match is played starting at 3:30 p.m. local time (5:30 p.m. in Mexico, 6:30 p.m. on the East Coast of the United States and 12:30 a.m. on Monday in mainland Spain).
Our colleague Luis Pablo Beauregard is in the stadium and together with other journalists from EL PAÍS we will be reporting the grand final live.
ACT.11 FEB 2024 - 21:54
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