It’s that time of year again when 32 teams were narrowed down to two elite teams of players. It’s also the time of year when your whole family gathers around to watch the exciting conclusion to the National Football League season: the Super Bowl. This year’s Super Bowl shaped up to be a boring mess at times, but a spectacle to behold nonetheless.

The Super Bowl kick-off show began at 5 PM CST and featured many musical performances. The “Star Spangled Banner” was sung by Grammy Award-nominated artists Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan. “America the Beautiful” was sung by Grammy award winning artist H.E.R. 

This year's Super Bowl was the 55th to be played and took place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. This was the first Super Bowl where one of the teams, the Buccaneers, got to play at their home stadium. Super Bowl LV was called by Jim Nantz and Tony Romo, along with reporters Tracy Wolfson, Evan Washburn, and Jay Feely, and rules analyst Gene Steratore. The game was officiated by Carl Cheffers and his crew. One notable member of his crew is Sarah Thomas, who was the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl. There were 25,000 people allowed to attend the Super Bowl, mainly healthcare professionals and their families. There were also about 30,000 cutouts of people in the stands. Although a smaller crowd, the noise level was still comparable to Super Bowls of past years.

The coin toss was won by the Kansas City Chiefs and they elected to defer and allow the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to receive the opening kickoff. The first quarter started off slow with each team only scoring once.  The Chiefs single score came in the form of a 49 yard Harrison Butker field goal. The Buccaneers single score came in the form of a Tom Brady pass received by tight end Rob Gronkowski for a touchdown. Other than these two scores, the first quarter was largely a defensive struggle with the score at the end of the quarter being 7-3. 

The second quarter, however, would see the momentum swing into the Buccaneers favor. This quarter would also continue to see Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense be shut down. The Chiefs’ would only manage to score one 34 yard field goal with only a minute left in the half. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers offense rolled with two touchdowns in the quarter. The first was another Brady to Gronkowski connection, and the second was a Brady pass to Antonio Brown with just six seconds left in the half. The odds were not looking great for the Kansas City Chiefs going into halftime.

The halftime show was performed by Canadian singer The Weeknd, mostly in front of an elaborate set constructed in the stands. On this set were singers in choir robes providing back-up vocals. There was also a portion of the show where The Weeknd was inside the set holding his own camera, which gave the audience a very different view of the show than halftime shows of the past. The show then transitioned to the field of Raymond James Stadium, where over a hundred dancers with bandaged faces performed synchronized moves spread across the field. The halftime show concluded with a giant fireworks display as The Weeknd hit his last note. 

To start the second half, the Chiefs received the kickoff but only produced a 52 yard Harrison Butker field goal after a long opening drive. This made the score 21-9. However, the next drive would see the Buccaneers practically walk down the field and cap off the drive with an untouched, 27 yard Leonard Fournette touchdown run.

Mahomes threw an interception on the next KC drive, putting the ball back into the hands of Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. With the game getting quickly out of hand, the Chiefs managed to hold the Buccaneers to a field goal and keeping the contest a three-score game. Unfortunately, the fourth quarter would continue to see the Chiefs get shutdown, and would see no points scored by either team. The final score of the game was 31-9 with the Buccaneers winning and Tom Brady clinching his 7th Super Bowl title.

In the end, while Super Bowl LV was a little bland, the event was still an exciting adventure.  The pregame performances were great and the halftime show had one of the coolest sets in Super Bowl history. The game itself also had many memorable moments and will not soon be forgotten. Overall, Super Bowl LV was an event that provided everyone the opportunity to take a break and relax for a while and was remarkably normal in not so normal times.