The world’s most adorable football game took place on Sunday, February 13th. Puppy Bowl XVIII kicked off this weekend with team Ruff and team Fluff competing for the Lombarky Trophy. If you do not want to watch the super bowl but still want to be part of the Superbowl fun, then there is the Puppy Bowl! “[The] Puppy Bowl celebrates adoptable pups in all their cuteness and showcases the incredible shelters and rescues, as well as their staffers, who dedicate their lives to helping animals find their fur-ever loving homes.” -Discovery.com 

The Puppy Bowl partnered with 67 shelters and rescues this year to display over 100 adoptable dogs this year. The coaches this year were the returning coaches from the previous Puppy Bowl, Snoop Dogg (Team Fluff) and Martha Stewart (Team Ruff) while Dan Schachner was the returning referee for this year’s Puppy Bowl.  

The game itself was action-packed as both sides led a back-and-forth football game as touchdowns came raining down on both sides. Team Fluff came away with the first touchdown and ended the first quarter leading 21-7. Team Ruff quickly responded and pushed their way to halftime with a lead of 31-28. After a brief intermission from the kitty halftime show, Team Fluff worked their way forward for a lead of 52-48 after the third quarter. In an extremely intense fourth quarter, Chorizo, a Daschund Terrier mix, scored the final touchdown for Team Fluff, leading them to a 73-69 victory over Team Ruff. 

“Every Puppy Bowl ends with every single dog being adopted,” says Dan Schachner. This year’s Puppy Bowl was not only adorable, but a wonderful opportunity to shine a light on the shelters and rescues that put in so much work to care for these animals. Make sure to tune in to next year’s Puppy Bowl to see more adorable and adoptable puppies compete for the Lombarky Trophy.