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The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL) that pits the champions of each of the league’s conference – the AFC and the NFC – against each other for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
It is usually held in late January or early February and the venue changes every season.
This year’s Super Bowl, the 51st, is being held in Houston, Texas.
Follow live updates from Houston's NRG Stadium on our blog below...
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What time is the Super Bowl?
The Super Bowl takes place on Sunday night, UK time. Play is scheduled to start at 6.30pm Eastern Time which means British viewers will have to stock up on caffeine as the game won’t be getting underway until shortly before midnight.
Factoring in the usual stoppages and the extra-long half-time to accommodate Lady Gaga’s half-time show, Brits staying up for the big game won’t be getting to bed much before 4am – if at all.
Where can I watch it?
BBC One continues its excellent coverage of the NFL with a late-night show fronted by the multi-talented Mark Chapman. Sky Sports will also be broadcasting the game but with adverts.
Who is playing in the Super Bowl?
The Atlanta Falcons won the NFC championship game against the Green Bay Packers to seal their second visit to the Super Bowl.
They will play against the New England Patriots, who have gone to more Super Bowls than any other team in history.
Who are the star players?
The Falcons boast this season’s likely MVP in quarterback Matt Ryan, who was at the centre of the league’s most deadly offense. Julio Jones is his leading wide receiver and one of the best in the league while running back tandem Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman make it very difficult to gameplan against Atlanta.
Tom Brady is one of the best-known NFL stars and, at 39, just had arguably his best season ever. Rob Gronkowski is another star on the Pats’ offense but won’t play through injury, so Brady will instead rely on a hodge-podge of Martellus Bennett, Dion Lewis, Chris Hogan and Julian Edelman. The Patriots have always been a well-coached team that outperforms its personnel.
Who are the favourites?
Odds courtesy of our friends at 888sport.com
New England: 4/6
Atlanta: 13/10
More commonly, people bet on NFL on a handicap basis. The Patriots are 3-point favourites.
Who should I want to win?
British people usually favour the underdog, so Atlanta will be the choice of many neutrals. Add in the fact that the Patriots seem to breeze through the playoffs every season, it’s fair to say most people would like to see them get beaten.
And that’s before we even get into Spygate (Google it), Deflategate (Google it) or the fact that the Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady are both good friends of Donald Trump. Sad!
Well well. Trey Flowers comes through with a sack for New England and the Falcons are backed up, possibly out of field goal range. It's going to be 3rd-and-23 on the 35. Ryan throws, finds Sanu on the flat who recovers enough yardage to likely get them in with a shot... no! Penalty. So the Falcons will replay from further back.
3rd-and-33: Julio motions left, Ryan targets Gabriel and it's out of bounds. This will be a punt.
Tom Brady has 3:38 to score a touchdown (and 2-point conversion) and send the Super Bowl to overtime for the first time ever.
Brady has the world on his shoulders, he targets Chris Hogan on the biiiig downfield shot on second down but a great piece of defensive coverage by Jalen Collins cleans things up.Third down Hogan hauls it in, 16-yard gain and the Pats are on the march. First down.
Brady hits Malcolm Mitchell on the sideline and they have another first down.2:28 to go. 1st-and-10 on the Patriots 37.
Edelman catches a tipped ball. Incredible! The ball looped up and was then dropped by Edelman but he's managed to keep it above the ground by millimetres. Astonishing stuff.
This will be reviewed by the officials but it's fine. The Patriots will have a first down.
Brady, then... another big play! TB12 hits Danny Amendola and the Patriots are in the red zone as we reach the two-minute warning.
You could not have written this. Extraordinary.
Brady sets up, takes the snap and he finds James White (again!) to reach the 7-yard line. 1st-and-goal: White catches again, hit by Jones but stopped a yard short.
2nd-and-goal: White takes the hand-off and slips through for a TD.
New England 26-28 Atlanta
2-point attempt coming....
Brady throws to Amendola, who crosses the plane! But there's a flag! It won't matter! They've done it!
New England 28-28 Atlanta
What. A. Comeback.
Matt Ryan can't get anything going, so we're heading for overtime assuming this punt doesn't produce something crazy.You'd like to think this game has had enough crazy already.
As an aside, Atlanta's clock management with such a lead was appalling and they will have to live with a lot of the blame should they end up losing this.
Clearly not enough crazy! The Patriots line up for a knee and run a screen to the left with Dion Lewis.However, the running back twists his ankle badly and rolls out of bounds. Nasty.
We are, nonetheless, heading to overtime for the first time in Super Bowl history.
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