Tale of the Tape: Team Fluff vs. Team Ruff

Introducing the 2022 Puppy Bowl starting lineups and the rescue organizations they’re representing.

January 19, 2022

Discovery+, Animal Planet, "The Dogist" Elias Weiss Friedman

With the first round of the NFL playoffs in the books, we’re four weeks away from the big game: the yearly tradition of two teams featuring some of our best athletes colliding for the crown. No, not the Super Bowl. Rather, its cuter counterpart — the Puppy Bowl. For the past 17 years, the Puppy Bowl has been an adorable refuge from the often chaotic and intense nature of Super Bowl Sunday. Airing earlier in the day before its human parallel, the game includes exclusively shelter puppies and is intended to raise awareness of the importance of adopting from rescues and the prevalence of pets abandoned in them. Organizations from across the states volunteer pups for this cuddly competition so you can watch 50-plus dogs tumble over each other while supporting a decent cause. These are the dogs (and their rescues) taking the field this year in the annual showdown between Team Fluff and Team Ruff.

Puppy Bowl XVIII airs Sunday, February 13th at 2 p.m. EST on Animal Planet.

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