Photos ©Al Macphee/MiraclePR
The countdown towards Super Bowl 2023 (aka Super Bowl LVII) is running, and very soon (11.30pm UK time), the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs will be fighting it out for American football’s top honour.
I spoke to Torbay Trojans head coach Simon Porter for his advice on what to keep your eyes on during Sunday’s big final. But before that, I asked him for a basic introduction to the game for those who may have never watched American football before:
First things first: the basics
“If we start at the basics, the whole principle of the game is that the team with the ball – the offence – has got four attempts to move 10 yards,” explained Porter. “If they fail, the ball gets turned over to the other team. If they succeed, then it starts again: they get another four attempts to make another 10 yards.
“Once the ball from the ground is snapped back into the quarterback’s hands, he has a choice to either hand it off to a runner, and the line in front will try and move people out of the way to give him space to run into a gap downfield, or runners will go deeper downfield, and the quarterback can throw a deep pass to them.
“Obviously, everybody loves to see a deep pass because it’s probably the most spectacular thing in football, but I’m old school,” admitted Porter. “I like a nice ground game. I like doing the dirty work in the trenches.
“I think a good running play and running game is really what makes a strong team,” he continued. “If you can suck people in to stop the run, it makes it easy to put the passes in, and then you can put in a nice big throw.
“So that’s where you get the tactics of trying to fool the opposition into thinking they know what you are going to do and then doing something different. I think the Eagles have probably got the edge on that.”
And that brings us nicely on to Simon’s top 5 things to look out for during Super Bowl 2023 tonight:
1. The brotherly connection
“There’s a special fact about this particular Super Bowl because, for the first ever time, there are two brothers playing on opposite sides: the Kelce brothers,” explained Porter. “So there’s that personal angle, and I think their mum has got a shirt made up, which is half one team and half the other.”
2. The Eagles getting at the QB
“Look for the Eagles’ defence really trying to get after the Chiefs’ quarterback and put him under pressure,” said Porter. “This season, the Eagles have set a record of four separate players with 10 sacks in a season – that’s getting to the quarterback and attacking him before he’s got rid of the ball. So that will be one thing to look out for: that Eagles defence going after the QB.”
In fact, the Eagles’ defence have managed 78 sacks this season, the third most in NFL history. They are now just five sacks away from taking top spot from the 1984 Chicago Bears team (82 sacks).
3. The Chiefs’ O-line performance
“How well can the Chiefs’ O-Line – that’s the offensive line – protect the quarterback?” asked Porter. “I might be biased because it was my position, but the offensive line is the most important set of positions on the field. If the O-line doesn’t do its job – if they don’t protect the QB – none of the plays will work, so that will be a huge battle there.
“The game itself is going to be very close unless the Eagles get hold of the QB early on, and then I think it’s going to be very difficult for the Chiefs to score.”
4. The tight ends getting involved
“Look to see the tight ends, like Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, getting involved,” suggests Porter. “They’re the hybrid players. They’re big and they can block, but they’re also fast and can run and catch. So that’s what you’re going to see a lot of in this particular, Super Bowl.
“It’s going to be a very tight one because both teams have been very close all the way through the season in all of their stats.”
5. The half-time show and ads
“Watch the adverts in the Super Bowl,” recommends Porter. “Firms pay many millions to make and place an advert. If you can watch the game somewhere that has it on an NFL pass, you will get all the American adverts and some of them are amazing.
“The half-time show has got to have a mention too. That’s always a celebration. It seems weird that I’m mentioning reasons to watch the Super Bowl that don’t involve the pitch, but I enjoy the spectacle of the Super Bowl as much as the sport.”
Join South Devon’s very own American football team: the Torbay Trojans!
Porter is busy building a team for the upcoming BAFA season, so if you’re looking to get involved as a player, you can reach out to him via the Torbay Trojans Facebook page.
“It’s a unique sport,” said Porter. “A lot of people make the comparison to rugby because of the shape of the ball and the physical contact. But what people don’t always realise is that it’s a very tactical game. Every play, the two teams are trying to outsmart each other. So it’s not just about big blokes smashing into each other. I admit it’s not easy to understand if you’ve never seen it before, but it’s a very deep, tactical sport.
“From a playing point of view, there are positions for every shape and size. There are people who need to have good ball skills and be quick, nimble and hard to catch. Then there are the bigger guys. So it’s got something for everybody and we’re happy for anybody to turn up. There’s absolutely no discrimination in American football. We’ve got two female players who have played with us for a couple of seasons now and get game time. The league allows all genders to play in the same team.
“In our league, we will play four different teams twice each. Our two closest are the Cornish Monarchs and Somerset Wyverns, but we also play inter-Conference games. So we will play two games against Swindon who are at the same level but in a different Conference.”
Ever wanted to photograph an American football game?
Photographer Al Macphee, who has recently published his debut book So, You Want To Be A Sports Photographer? on Amazon, attended a Torbay Trojans training session recently. Click the link to check out his photos and 5 Tips on How To Shoot American Football In The UK