The NBC variety show opened Saturday’s episode by mocking the CBS Super Bowl pre-game show, with Kenan Thompson playing CBS Sports anchor James Brown.
“Hello! Welcome to the Super Bowl – four hours of television for 11 minutes of action,” said Thompson’s Brown. “I’m James’ No, not that ‘Brown.’
Thompson noted that this season was nothing but normal due to the pandemic, as well as racial and political divisions.
“But today we are meeting in a spirit of unity to watch football,” he said. “And it kills billions of chickens for their delicious wings.”
Thompson’s Brown said the league worked hard to keep Covid at bay all season and fortunately had only “700 cases”.
The fake CBS pre-game team also mentioned that the announcements for Sunday’s game – when the Kansas City bosses take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa – almost brought them to tears.
“SNL” then showed a fake ad for Cheez-Its, which contained images of historical figures fighting injustice. The announcement ended with the label: “Cheez-Its, historically delicious.”
A false announcement followed “to balance the progressive announcements” from Pope John’s. He showed Pope John’s pizza along with conspiracy theories and ended with the announcer saying, “Stop today with your Q-pon.”
“Wait, is this a pizza ad?” Thompson’s Brown said.
After talking to the two Super Bowl coaches, Andy Reid and Bruce Arians, both played by Aidy Bryant, the pre-game show ended with the announcers making final predictions for Sunday’s big game.
Former coach Bill Cowher, played by Alex Moffat, predicted that “at the end of the game, Covid will address the Florida crowd and thank them for an incredible opportunity.”
The crew then said signing the show’s signature, “Live … From New York! It’s Saturday night. “