By You’re allowed to start getting excited now. Super Bowl week is finally here.
As is tradition, what can sometimes feel like the longest week of the year begins with Monday’s Opening Night.
Players and coaches will make their first public appearances in the buildup to the biggest game in football, with hundreds of media ready to grill them on everything from player healthiness to how the presence of Taylor Swift might affect the game.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Opening Night will be broadcast on the NFL Network, which is available through cable providers or via various streaming services. Coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT).
Opening Night kicks off at 6 p.m. ET at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Players and staff from both teams will be in attendance on the field, with the Eagles’ photo and interview session running from 8-9 p.m. ET, and the Chiefs’ session scheduled for 10-11 p.m. ET.
Tickets for fans are $20, and those in attendance will have the opportunity to meet and get autographs from NFL stars past and present, in the form of three-time Pro Bowler Mark Ingram II and Super Bowl LIV champion Tyrann Mathieu.
The event will also feature musical performances and the chance to take a photo with the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
It isn’t hard to guess one of the lines of questioning that Chiefs players and staff will face. Having triumphed in this game in each of the last two years, Kansas City is looking to do what no NFL team has ever done before and win three Super Bowls in a row.
Doing so would also give star quarterback Patrick Mahomes four rings, meaning he would be more than halfway towards matching Tom Brady’s record of seven. Given that Brady played until he was 45, the 29-year-old Mahomes may well face questions on whether he thinks he can go on to equal the greatest of all time.
His head coach, Andy Reid, will enter the game in a unique position – he is the winningest head coach not only in Chiefs history, but Eagles history as well. Between 1999 and 2012, Reid won 140 games with the Eagles, leading the team to nine playoff appearances, six division titles and one Super Bowl appearance. Having missed out on raising the Vince Lombardi Trophy with Philadelphia, a victory on Sunday would be his fourth Super Bowl win with the Chiefs, and his second against his old team.
If Reid is to claim his fourth ring, the Chiefs defense is going to have to find a way to stop Saquon Barkley. The running back has rushed for 2,447 yards across the regular season and three playoff games, meaning that he needs just 30 yards to break the all-time rushing record set by Terrell Davis for the Denver Broncos in 1998.
Another player who could prove crucial is defensive end Brandon Graham. The Eagles legend suffered a triceps injury against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12 and has not played since, but did not rule out a return during an interview with 94WIP on Monday. It is likely that Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni will be quizzed on whether the veteran might return for one last Super Bowl appearance.
