The Mycenaean

Football season is coming to a close, with just about a month before Super Bowl 59 on Sunday, February 9. 

This year’s big game is taking place in Ceasar’s Superdome, normally the home of the New Orleans Saints, and kickoff will be at 6:30 EST.

One of the biggest games of week 18 was Sunday night primetime with the Detroit Lions facing the Minnesota Vikings.

“I was quite nervous for most of the game,” said Mr. Vermette, a social studies teacher and Detroit Lions fan.

Both teams were fighting for the #1 seed in the NFC, and the Lions ended up with it after a 31-9 victory on January 5.

Vermette said, “I could tell from early on that Sam Darnold (Vikings QB) wasn’t going to do anything. I’m not exactly used to the Lions being in games that important. Life was great once the Lions started to pull away, though!”

For the teams that didn’t make the playoffs this year, hopes turn to the 2025 NFL draft board.

As a New York Giants fan, this draft is very, very important. There are a few teams this year without a leader at the quarterback position — like the Giants.

There are a few promising QB draft prospects, such as Cam Ward out of Miami and Shadeur Sanders out of Colorado.

The team with the first overall pick this year is the Tennessee Titans, as they finished the season with a pitiful 3-14 record.

Looking forward to the Super Bowl, everyone tries to predict who will make it, and some people even bet on the score.

“My dream Super Bowl would be the Bills vs the Lions, but I know it will probably end up being something like the Chiefs and Lions. 31-28 Lions win,” said Vermette.

It would be nice to not see the chiefs in the super bowl for the 3rd time in a row.

There were also some changes to the rules, the most notable being the new kickoff rules.

(Photo Courtesy of USA today)

Instead of both teams running towards the middle while the receiving team blocks, now there is a landing zone where the ball can be fielded with a return, and there can still be a touchback.

“It seems to at least give kickoffs a chance to actually make an impact on the game instead of it just getting kicked out the back of the endzone every time,” said Vermette.

The playoffs officially start on January 11 with the wildcard round. Every team in the playoffs still has a shot to play in the big game, and we’ll see how it all shakes up on Super Bowl Sunday.