Ahead of Super Bowl LV on Sunday, Joe Theismann, former Washington quarterback and Super Bowl XVII champion, is calling the game for the defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.
"I think Patrick Mahomes is the X-factor and they've got so much speed on the offensive side of the ball," he told Cheddar.
According to the former champion quarterback, Mahomes couldn't be paired against a better opponent than someone with the resume and experience like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Tom Brady, who is making his 10th appearance on the game's biggest stage.
Though Theismann favors the Chiefs over the Bucs, he offered some sound advice for Kansas City players as they prepare to face the postseason version of Tampa Bay.
"The thing you have to be careful of in this game if you're the Kansas City Chiefs is you beat up on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier in the year with big numbers. You put up over 400 yards passing. You can't think about that football game. This is an entirely different Tampa Bay football team," he explained.
The pairing of the league's new face with one that has dominated in three different decades adds to the allure of Super Bowl LV, and according to Theismann, "the two best teams are actually playing" in Sunday's big game.
After tennis player Peng Shuai made an explicit sexual assault allegation toward a former Chinese government official, she disappeared from the public eye. Her recent reappearance with the IOC alongside a Chinese Olympic committee official raised eyebrows and renewed concerns for her safety. Asian affairs expert Gordon Chang, author of "The Coming Collapse of China," joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss Peng Shuai's retraction and the various human rights controversies swirling at the Beijing games. "It's clear that the IOC was working with Beijing to make sure that she did not express herself freely," Chang said. "So really this is the IOC being complicit in these mechanisms of control over Peng."
Team USA is still searching for its first gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics that is held amid geopolitical tensions and a global pandemic. Cheddar News speaks with Stephen Cannella, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Sports Illustrated about the highlights and disappointments so far.
The opening ceremony of the 2022 winter Olympics has kicked off at the Beijing national stadium. 150,000 spectators are in attendance for the games inside the 'closed loop' system separating Olympic personnel from the public. Cheddar News spoke with Brian Cazenueve, Sports Illustrated contributor, to share the highlights you may have missed and much more.
Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores has filed a lawsuit against his old team along with the Denver Broncos and the New York Giants. Flores alleged that the league has been following racist practices in its hiring process. Former NFL quarterback and Sports Analyst and Commentator, Lester Ray Ricard Jr, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Former NFL QB Lester Ricard Jr. joins Cheddar Bets to discuss playing--and beating--the same team three times in a season ahead of the NFC Championship Game.
Sponsored by BetMGM
Brian Bennett, College Basketball Senior Editor of The Athletic, joins Cheddar Bets to share his methods for forecasting long-term success for college basketball's top programs.
Sponsored by BetMGM
Super Group, the company behind leading global online sports betting and gaming businesses Betway and Spin, has landed on Wall Street. The company went public via SPAC with Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corp., and now lists on the NYSE under the ticker symbol 'SGHC.' This debut comes as the U.S. sports betting market continues to heat up with more and more states legalizing the practice. Eric Grubman, chairman of Super Group, joined Cheddar to discuss.
Olivia Harlan Dekker and Sean Green provide their insight and top picks after studying the early lines for Super Bowl LIV, while Chris Spagnuolo breaks down betting trends from this NFL season using data and analytics. Sponsored by BetMGM.