Super Bowl LV Beginners Guide, Preview, Tips & Prediction

The Super Bowl is the biggest event on the NFL calendar, a little bit like the Champions League final for those in Europe. However, things work a little different in America as they do in Europe and the Super Bowl takes you on quite the journey before making an appearance at the "big game".

Contestants will compete on either side of the conference, and the two champions from each division face off in the Super Bowl. This year at Super Bowl 51, the champions of the AFC conference (American Football Conference) Kanas City Cheifs, meet with the NFC (National Football Conference) champions.

In terms of the basic rules for American football, it is similar to football in the sense you have to score in the opposing team's zone, also known as the endzone. To score, the team must get the ball from their own field into the endzone to score a touchdown, which is their version of a goal. Tactics, superior physicality and a man who can place a ball on a sixpence with his hands (the quarterback) are the deciding factors in a team excelling in American football.

To score offensive team must advance at least ten yards in four downs or plays and if they fail, they turn over the ball to the defensive team who they become the offensive side. However, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue their attempt to score a touchdown. The game itself lasts 60 minutes, with two halves of 30 minutes each and two of the four quarters in each half lasting 15 minutes.

Super Bowl LV will be one like no other, but NFL fans will be excited at the opportunity to witness the greatest quarterback of all-time, Tom Brady, take on the best quarterback on the planet in the form of Patrick Mahomes, who has the best passer rating of all-time (110.7).

After winning the Super Bowl last year, the Kansas City Chiefs are looking to become the eighth team to retain the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The Chiefs have had the best regular season of any team in the NFL, going 14-2, an improvement from last season’s 12-4. Kansas City go into this the game as firm favourites, with a (-3.5) handicap win being 21/20 with Sky Bet.

Andy Reid’s team have averaged over 29.5 points per game in the regular season and beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-24 in a tight game when the two sides faced one another in November. In last year’s Super Bowl, the Chiefs won 31-20, scoring 21 points in the last quarter and we expect this season’s finale to be a high scoring one, with the favourites likely to have too much talent in offence for their opponents - Sky Bet are offering odds of 1/1 for the Chiefs to score over 30.5 points and 10/3 for them to score over 37.5 points.

Tight end, Travis Kelce, had the second-highest overall yardage in the NFL this season, receiving 1,416 yards, a new record for a tight end in a single season. He has also impressed in the playoffs so far, recording eight catches for 109 yards and a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns in the divisional round, followed by 13 catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns in the AFC Championship game against the Buffalo Bills. The 2020 All-Pro tight end is 16/1 to be the MVP and is 13/2 to score the first touchdown of the game.

Both the Chiefs and the Buccaneers are joint second (behind Green Bay Packers 13.6) for the highest average points scored in the second quarter of regular season games with 10.2 points. By this logic, we should expect to see around 20 total points in the second quarter of the game. Sky Bet are offering odds of 5/6 for there to be over 16.5 points in the second quarter or alternatively, you can back the Chiefs to use their Super Bowl experience and win the second quarter with a (-1.5) handicap at a price of 1/1.

The main success story of this NFL season has been the story of legendary quarterback Tom Brady, who has once again proven his quality, as he has carried Tampa Bay to their first Super Bowl since 2003. Brady is now chasing his seventh Super Bowl win, which would be the first since leaving the New England Patriots, and he could also be in line for his fifth Super Bowl MVP award and is 7/4 to get it, as the 43-year-old veteran hopes to guide his team to their second Vince Lombardi Trophy, at the first time of asking.

This Buccaneers team has been the first in NFL history to break 'home field advantage curse’ as they become the only team in history to play in a Super Bowl at their own stadium. The odds for them to become the first team to win the Super Bowl at their own stadium are 11/8 and they are 7/1 to win by between 7-12 points, as they have done on three occasions during their current seven-game win streak.

Finally, Mike Evans has got the first touchdown in Tampa Bay’s last two games and scored two receiving touchdowns when the Buccaneers travelled to Kansas City back in November. The speedy wide receiver is priced at 11/1 to score the first touchdown of the game and is 9/2 to score Tampa Bay’s first touchdown. Another option is Tom Brady’s go-to man Rob Gronkowski, the pair shared much success at the New England Patriots over the past decade and it would be a poetic way for the pair to win their first Super Bowl without the Patriots, although ‘Gronk’ was limited to just one reception in the NFC Championship game.

Gronkowski is 9/1 to get the Buccaneers’ first touchdown, 5/2 to get a touchdown at any time and 20/1 to score the final touchdown of the game.

By Tom Eaton