MIAMI — Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance was as spectacular as the football game surrounding it was awful. The overhyped, stupid-costly TV commercials ran the gamut of both extremes. And NFL teams looking up from the bottom like the Miami Dolphins had much to learn from watching the Seattle Seahawks celebrate at the New England Patriots’ expense.

Lots to unpack here. Let’s start on center stage at the heart of it all.

Triumphant: Bad Bunny at halftime

The Puerto Rican global superstar performing almost entirely in Spanish, a Super Bowl first, made the show controversial in acutely divided America — so much so a conservative group aired a competing, concurrent show it called an “All-American” alternative. (Does that group know Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the U.S., that residents are citizens, and that around 45 million Americans speak Spanish in the home?) Despite the competing programming, early estimates are 135 million watched Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio perform, topping the record Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show set a year ago.

I’m not a Bad Bunny expert, am not versed in the language, didn’t know the songs ... and loved it. I loved it first for the rhythm and pulse, the vibe, what you feel in music. Whatever you call it, reggaeton, Latin trap, música urbana, I call it music that made it impossible to stand still.

As Bad Bunny had said himself, “People only have to worry about dance. They don’t even have to learn Spanish. It’s better if they learn to dance. There’s no better dance than the one that can come from the heart.”

I also loved the “Benito Bowl” for the scope and scale of it. You expect excess and extravaganza from any Super Bowl halftime, but this one raised the bar. The hundreds of extras and dancers, the palm trees and sugar cane setting and other nods to Puerto Rico like the coconut vendor and piragua cart. The two boxers were real pros. The wedding scene depicted actual nuptials.

The light poles were a jab at the island’s too-frequent electrical blackouts and the government’s ineffective response to hurricane damage. Clearly, Bad Bunny wanted authentic. And special guests such as Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin were nice surprises.

I especially loved the unifying message of halftime. Bad Bunny, in English, said “God bless America.” A Jumbotron message in the stadium in California read, ‘The Only thing More powerful Than Hate is Love.’ At the end Bad Bunny held up a football with a message that read, ‘Together, We Are America.’

Massive letdown: The Super Bowl game itself

If only Seahawks vs. Pats was as triumphant as the show in the middle of it. A parade of field goals and big defense defined Seattle’s 29-13 rout. It didn’t seem that close. It was a somnambulant 12-0 at halftime, then 19-0. It was 29-7 before New England scored garbage points late.

The narrative that comes from this might be how quarterback Drake Maye and the Patriots withered on the stage; it should be how Seattle’s defense flexed its muscles for all to see, and how a strong ground game defined the offense with Kenneth Walker III rushing for 135 yards as game MVP. It’s not usual that a Super Bowl-winning QB is not voted MVP, but all Sam Darnold had to do was play it safe and watch his defense go to work.

Put Sunday in historical perspective, though, and understand that lopsided Super Bowls are common. Thought of that a lot as my party guests were complaining. I heard a bunch of “worst Super Bowl ever” comments. Not true. If only.

Just one year ago, the Philadelphia Eagles led 34-0 late in the third quarter before the Kansas City Chiefs awakened and lost 40-22.

This was the 36th Super Bowl (of 60) to finish with a double-digit point differential in the final score. Five SBs have been decided by 30-plus points. The 49ers beat the Broncos 55-10 to end the 1989 season. Witnesses to that monstrosity would like a word about Sunday night being the worst SB ever.

If you could hear them: The commercials

I made a plea before the game to my party guests to please be as quiet as possible when the much-anticipated TV ads came on. The message had no chance. The cacophony drowned most everything out. Same with the party you were at? Makes you wonder why advertisers pay up to $10 million for a 30-second spot.

A few thoughts, though, from what I could discern, and from the consensus reaction:

Budweiser scored big again, tugging at heartstrings. The combination of an iconic Clydesdale, a baby American bald eagle and Lynyrd Skynrd’s “Free Bird” was unbeatable as Seattle’s D.

I liked the Pepsi ad, even though I call it advertising grand theft the way the brand usurped the polar bear from Coke.

Also liked the Bosch ad with Food Network star Guy Fieri and his just-a-guy alter ego.

The Bud commercial won USA Today’s Ad Meter, followed by the ads for Lay’s, Pepsi, Dunkin’ and Michelob Ultra. Dead last of 54 SB commercials was Coinbase, whose advertising chief is probably looking for new work as we speak.

The lessons: What teams like Dolphins can learn from this Super Bowl

Start with what fans don’t like to talk about: the offensive line. Little makes the eyes glaze over more than your team drafting a guard or tackle in the first round. But it was New England’s failure on the O-line that defined Sunday night and opened the gates for Seattle’s defense. Fittingly Pats tackle Will Campbell dodged the media postgame after the Seahawks used him like a turnstile all night.

New Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and new head coach Jeff Hafley — leading a major Miami reboot — had to be reminded watching that game of the fundamental, priority importance of the offensive and defensive lines. Of building with physicality from the ground up. A few other thoughts:

Win your division. It is quantifiably important, and the Fins have done it only once since 2001. (That was in ‘08, when Tom Brady was out injured for the year.) Only 11 wild-card teams (non-division winners) of 120 total have reached the Super Bowl. And only seven wild cards have been among the 60 SB champions.

Especially relevant to Miami as it shops Tua Tagovailoa and tries to figure who it’s quarterback might be in ‘26: It’s the most important position, but you can win other ways. Seattle just did with (or despite) Sam Darnold, with defense and a ground game. Seahawks have a premier wideout in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but they’re champs despite his catching only four balls for 27 yards Sunday.

Miami was 7-10 and is rebooting, and the climb Sullivan and Hafley inherited is a steep one. Instant betting odds to win the Super Bowl next year have the Fins one of three teams tied for last at 150-1, along with Arizona and the New York Jets.

Ah, but hope springs eternal, and we see why a lot in the NFL. The Patriots just reached the title game after going 4-13 each of the two previous seasons. Their combination of new coach Mike Vrabel and second-year quarterback Drake Maye clicked, and this was the latest proof that the quick, dramatic turnaround is a thing. We just saw it.

The Patriots had that hope entering this season despite 80-1 odds. The 1999 St. Louis Rams won the Super Bowl despite the same 150-1 odds Miami has today.

It’s all you can have with a new coach and a fresh start, all you can have in February as the page turns to tomorrow: Hope.

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