Un-Super Bowl Recap, Tribe Style

Let’s face it. Super Bowl LIII kinda sucked. Unless you’re a Pats fan (duh) or a music fan (no, I don’t mean the halftime show), there wasn’t much that was great. Even this year’s ads have been widely panned as totally unspecial across the board. But with the Big Game in the ATL, our tribe (especially Yalo South) still scored a bunch of memorable moments. Let’s break it down.

The Game

After a season filled with explosive, high-scoring games across conferences and divisions, not to mention BOTH conference championships going into overtime just two short weeks ago, even fans with no dog in the fight at least expected a nail-biting, high-scoring game. Nope. Lowest scoring game in Super Bowl history. Womp. Womp. According to Yalo’s resident Pats fans, Denise and Kevin, the score was exactly perfect.

The Ratings

Touted as the lowest-rated Super Bowl in a decade, broadcasters and advertisers should possibly pause and reflect on whether this one night of the year is the night of the year whose basket they should put all their eggs in. Or maybe the numbers aren’t that clear cut. The official numbers don’t account for the out-of-home viewers (a.k.a. those of you who watched at a bar) or those who watched on non-TV platforms. And let’s not forget that literally the entire city of New Orleans boycotted the broadcast after a controversial call in their championship game sent them home until next season. Yalo’s resident Saints fan, Scott, will not confirm or deny whether or where he watched the game, but is confident ratings would have been up 300% with Drew Brees on the field.

The Ads

Sure, we saw some familiar faces like Budweiser and Pepsi this year, along with a few new ones like The Washington Post and Bubly. But even with all the celebrity endorsements and high production values, there simply weren’t a lot of wow moments and many of the ads just seemed to be trying too hard. According to USA Today’s Ad Meter, the NFL’s own The 100 Year Game might just have been the best part of the game. A few of our favorite spots included

Hyundai: The Elevator

The “painful experiences” theme really resonated with our crew.

Budweiser: Wind Never Felt Better

Dalmation + Clydesdales + Dylan + Green Initiative = Winner

Expensify: 2 Chainz x Adam Scott

Hey, if 2 Chainz likes it, so do we!

Amazon: Not Everything Makes the Cut

Because dogs would order everything!

But one thing we noticed was all the great music. From Lipps, Inc.’s Funky Town in Pringles to Ludacris’ Stand Up in Mercedes, the music was definitely one facet of Sunday’s show that delivered. So, of course we made a playlist. You’re welcome.

The Experience

Finally, another area that did deliver was the experience in Atlanta. Many of us here were able to get downtown to join in the many festivities over the weekend, along with a million of our closest friends. We played at the Super Bowl Experience, hung out in the fan zone at Super Bowl Live and rocked out to Run the Jewels/Foo Fighters, Cardi B and Bruno Mars.

There were celebrity sightings (David Spade, Odell Beckham, DeSean Jackson and Terrell Davis) and the buzz of fighter jets overhead. The energy around town was incredible. Even Pepsi appreciated the Southern hospitality. And one lucky girl got to see her Tom Brady win the game inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

So despite a lot that didn’t live up to expectations Super Bowl LIII had some worthy silver linings . . . LIV, we’re looking forward to great things from you next year!