The 55th Super Bowl kicks off on Sunday evening and will not include the Cleveland Browns for the 55th straight year. This year’s Browns came closer than most editions, however, and that adds some intrigue to the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
How to watch
The official pregame kicks off on CBS at 11:30 a.m. ET and rolls through the entire day. There will be a multitude of other pregame programming to suit just about any type of fan, but if you don’t want to change the channel all day, CBS is where to go.
Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. ET after the national anthem. Jim Nantz and Tony Romo will have the call for the game.
Ex-Browns in the game
There are a few ex-Browns on the Chiefs, including two starters on the Kansas City offensive line. Austin Reiter starts at center while Andrew Wylie will get the nod at right tackle as the Chiefs shuffle the line to cover for injured LT Eric Fisher. Another former Browns lineman, Mitchell Schwartz, would be the regular starter but he’s on injured reserve.
Tight end Ricky Seals-Jones was activated for the game from the Chiefs’ practice squad. Two other ex-Browns, RB Elijah McGuire and OL Bryan Witzmann, would get rings as practice squad members.
There are also some on the Buccaneers, though in lesser roles. Drew Stanton serves as the deep reserve QB for Tampa Bay, while kicker Greg Joseph is on the practice squad. Another ex-Brown, OL Earl Watford, is also on the Buccaneers practice squad.
Recent encounters
The last game the Browns played came against the Chiefs. Kansas City escaped a late rally by Baker Mayfield and the Browns to win, 22-17, in the AFC divisional round. The Browns are 11-13-2 all-time against Kansas City.
Cleveland hasn’t played Tampa Bay since 2018, losing to the Bucs in overtime, 26-23, when Chandler Catanzaro nailed a 59-yard game-winning field goal. The Browns have a 6-4 all-time record against the Buccaneers.
Matchup breakdown
The All-22: Buccaneers or Chiefs — which team has the schematic edge in Super Bowl LV?
How Tampa Bay’s run game could upend the Chiefs’ dime defense in Super Bowl LV