A Super Primer for XXXI

Times NFL writer T.J. Simers tells you what you need to know for today’s game:

Teams: AFC champion New England Patriots (13-5) versus NFC champion Green Bay Packers (15-3)

Kickoff: 6:18 p.m. EST.

TV: Channel 11

National anthem sung by Luther Vandross and signed by Miss Louisiana, Erika Schwarz.

Coin toss: Six NFL coaches who won Super Bowls in New Orleans (Mike Ditka, Tom Flores, Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, George Seifert and Hank Stram).

Halftime show: A $1.2 million production, which will begin with a 2 1/2-minute video tribute to Pete Rozelle, who was named NFL commissioner 37 years ago to the day and who died last month. Rozelle footage will include his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985 with him standing between Joe Namath and O.J. Simpson. The Blues Brothers, ZZ Top and James Brown will perform.

Ticket price: $275.

Commercials: Twenty-five advertisers have claimed the 58 30-second spots available at an average of $1.2 million a commercial. Bob Dole, Cindy Crawford and the late Fred Astaire will be featured. A minute of ad time, which cost $75,000 in 1967, now costs $2.4 million.

Lombardi Trophy: The game’s winner will receive the Lombardi Trophy, named for Packer Coach Vince Lombardi in 1970 after it had been awarded previously as the AFL-NFL World Championship Game Trophy.

The ring: The NFL pays for up to 90 championship rings at $4,000 per ring. The NFL also pays for 90 loser rings at $2,000.

Last meeting between two teams: The Patriots and Packers met 177 days ago in Green Bay in the teams’ first exhibition game of the year with the Packers winning, 24-7.

Pregame preparations: After his first visit to Bourbon Street, Packer defensive lineman Sean Jones said, “That place is hell on earth.” Packer safety LeRoy Butler said his brother lives in New Orleans and gave him some good advice: “If you are going to chase girls, make sure it’s a girl.”

Coach Bill Parcells vs. Green Bay: 4-1, including 1-0 mark as Patriot head coach. Patriots are only second team in NFL history to overcome 0-2 start and advance to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys went on to win Super Bowl XXVIII.

Coach Mike Holmgren vs. New England: 0-1. The Packers are 3-0 in the Superdome with Holmgren as coach, and quarterback Brett Favre is 7-0 as both a college player and pro under the dome.

New England team owner: Bob Kraft.

Green Bay team owners: 1,915 fans who paid $25 a share in 1950 to buy the team.

Super Bowl hallucinations: “I had a dream last night that I scored 10 touchdowns,” said Packer wide receiver Andre Rison, who scored four touchdowns in 18 games this season.

Packer stats: Green Bay is first team since 1972 undefeated Miami Dolphins to lead the NFL in both scoring and scoring defense; has scored 20 or more points in 16 of 18 games this season; has gone 13-0 after leading or being tied at halftime; scored a dozen touchdowns of 50 yards or longer -- the most in the NFL since 1970; has given up an average of 5.1 points a game in the second half and led the NFL in third-down conversions (44.3 percent).

Minister of defense: Packer defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur, deemed too old by some at age 64, designed a package that limited opposing quarterbacks to a rating of 55.4 this season, the lowest mark by a collective Packers opponent since 1974. In the last six games of the regular season, the Packer defense gave up only seven points in the fourth quarter.

Patriot stats: New England is 12-0 when the team scores 23 or more points; 11-0 when leading after the third quarter; led the AFC in scoring; led the NFL with 339 first downs; has given up only four touchdowns in the past seven games; has not given up a touchdown in postseason play; and is 10-3 when it scores first.

Minister of defense, part II: Patriot assistant head coach Bill Belichick, who was the mastermind behind Parcells’ two previous Super Bowl winners while with the New York Giants, has New England coming on strong. Since surrendering 34 points to Denver in mid-November, the Patriots have given up an average of 10.4 points a game. In the last 10 quarters of plays, the offense has three field goals against Belichick’s defense.

Super Bowl stats: This will be the eighth Super Bowl played in New Orleans, with the loser coming no closer than 10 points; in four previous games played in the Superdome, the winners have outscored the losers, 155-40; Parcells and Don Shula are the only coaches to make it to the Super Bowl with two different teams; Gerry Austin, a 15-year veteran, will be the game’s referee and it will be his first Super Bowl; 15 buses were needed to transport fans and media to Super Bowl I, 500 were required for last year’s Super Bowl in Arizona; and the last four NFC teams in the Super Bowl have been double-digit favorites and have all won by 10 points or more.

NFC streak: The NFC has defeated the AFC in 12 consecutive Super Bowls. “I was watching a wildlife show about grizzly bears,” New England tight end Keith Byars said. “Grizzly bears kill grizzly bears; you want to beat the NFC, develop NFC-like players. In the AFC, if a guy’s pushed out of bounds, you help him up. In the NFC you knock him into the Gatorade table.”

MVP candidates: Sixteen quarterbacks have won the Rozelle Trophy. No tight end or offensive lineman has ever won the award. Six defensive players have been selected as MVPs.

Sleeper: Willie Clay, known as “Big Play” to his teammates, who intercepted a pass by Jacksonville’s Mark Brunell in the AFC title game to preserve the Patriots’ victory. In a 1995 meeting against the Packers, while playing for the Detroit Lions, Clay picked off two Favre passes to spring a 24-16 upset. A year earlier he intercepted a Favre pass to preserve a 34-31 victory.

Payoffs: Each winning team member will earn $48,000 -- a pay cut for players such as Favre and Drew Bledsoe. Each loser will get $29,000. Winners of Super Bowl I received $15,000.

Oddsmakers update: Packers are two-touchdown favorites, while Bally’s in Las Vegas says the best bet to score the game’s first touchdown is Packer running back Dorsey Levens at 4-1. New England running back Curtis Martin is 5-1, Favre and Bledsoe 20-1. The odds are 75-1 that nobody scores a touchdown. You can bet $100 to make $1,000 that the game will go into overtime. Or, bet $1,500 to win $100 that the game won’t go into overtime.

Key matchup for Patriots: Cornerback Otis Smith, who wasn’t good enough to stick with the New York Jets, starts for New England and will need help to stay with Packer wide receiver Antonio Freeman. That will allow Rison to get single coverage from Patriot cornerback Ty Law. Rison could have a monster game.

Key matchup for Packers: Who stays with Terry Glenn, the Patriots’ rookie wide receiver? Tight end Ben Coates should keep safety LeRoy Butler busy, and while Shawn Jefferson isn’t much of a threat opposite Glenn, Packer cornerbacks Craig Newsome and Doug Evans lack speed to corral Glenn. Newsome is known for gambling, and if Bledsoe can pump fake, Glenn’s gone for a touchdown.

Quarterback comparison: In last four games, Bledsoe has been intercepted eight times, fumbled three times and thrown for three touchdowns. In his last 23 regular-season games, Favre has thrown for 60 touchdowns against 15 interceptions.

Quote to reflect on: In July after Favre emerged from rehabilitation for an addiction to painkillers, he said, “I’m going to beat this thing and I’m going to win the Super Bowl.”

Memorable Super Bowl quotes: “I’d run over my mother to win it,” Washington guard Russ Grimm said in 1984. “I’d run over Grimm’s mother too,” Raider linebacker Matt Millen said. Raiders won, 38-9.

Super Bowl bums: Tie between Buffalo’s Scott Norwood and Dallas tight end Jackie Smith. Norwood missed a 47-yard field goal in Super Bowl XXV, which allowed Parcells’ Giants to escape with a 20-19 victory. Since that day Norwood has declined all interview requests to discuss the miss. Smith, wide open in the end zone in Super Bowl XIII, dropped a touchdown pass, and Pittsburgh went on to win, 35-31. Says Smith, “I refuse to talk about it anymore.”

Super Bowl hero: San Francisco’s Joe Montana won four Super Bowls and never had a pass intercepted.

Famous last words: “Mike Tyson was a big favorite too,” Patriot defensive end Willie McGinest said. “Everyone thought he would knock out Evander Holyfield, but in that kind of fight and this kind of game anything goes. They don’t scare us.”

Postgame party: New Orleans has the No. 1 murder rate among U.S. cities.

Future Super Bowls: San Diego in 1998, Miami in 1999, Atlanta in 2000 and Tampa in 2001.