I’ll make salsa. It’s best to start there. Get some decent tortilla chips. Maybe make some guac. And I’m set. Whatever else hits the table doesn’t matter after that.

Perhaps you have favorites, the same dishes you prepare every year. Or perhaps a deep roster of rotational items. Old-school pigs in a blanket? New-school rice bowls? Topped with marinated and roasted meat?

Hey, I once made clam chowder. Ordered clams from a fishery somewhere in New England. Still dream about the warm and briny goodness.

Even if you don’t cook, or prep, and settle on a pizza and wings at the doorstep, you’ve still got a Super Bowl party. What matters is that you watch. (Unless you’ve never watched, in which case you’re excused.)

But if the Super Bowl is an annual celebration in your life, and you happen to love the Detroit Lions, and you’re still stinging from the NFC title game loss, and you plan on sitting in a corner Sunday during the Super Bowl, arms crossed, breath held, and not watching, well, remember that your coach will be watching.

Because he believes this season wasn’t a one-off. So does the general manager. So do the players. And if they can watch, so can you.

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So, make your favorite Super Bowl food, or try something new, it doesn’t matter. Just make sure you’re present. It shows belief. Faith. And while it may be hard in moments, it’s necessary.

Just ask Alex Anzalone, the team’s defensive captain, a linebacker who penned an article for The Players’ Tribune this week and asked you a simple question:

“Are you going to watch it on Sunday?”

Because he is.

Here’s why:

“It’s funny. ... When we had our exit meetings with Dan the other day, he actually asked the same thing. I didn’t know how to answer. I honestly hadn’t even thought about it yet, and it kind of made me sick thinking about going to some Super Bowl party and standing around like an idiot, trying to pretend to be happy.

"But Dan said, ‘No, you gotta watch it, man. Use every second of it as motivation. I’ll sure as hell be watching.'”

Of course he will be watching. This is part of it. This is part of rebuilding, of getting better, of getting knocked out after getting better, of getting back up.

As Anzalone wrote:

“I can’t help but have this image of Dan sitting in a dark room this Sunday, all by himself, gripping his coffee cup for three hours straight, staring daggers at the TV, just counting down the milliseconds until training camp starts and we can run it back.

“You’re gonna have 53 dogs out there doing the exact same. You’re gonna have a whole coaching staff doing the same. You’re gonna have a whole city doing the same.

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That starts this Sunday. Watch what it takes. Watch who wins. Note the reasons. Note, too, how it feels that the Lions were three points away, 30 minutes away.

Then take a bite of barbecue, or dip a chip in queso, or grab a wing, a sip of beer, a gulp of water. It doesn’t matter. As long as it’s your routine.

Yes, Sunday will feel different. It should feel different. Normally, February rolls around and the Lions are the furthest thing from your mind — unless you're looking at early mock drafts, which have had the Lions' position and needs for months, most seasons. And, hey, drafts are still fun. This year’s should be especially fun. It’s in Detroit. The country gets another chance to see where we live and see what it’s about, at least in part.

That will feel different, as well. Detroit will be the center of the NFL for a few days and this city will deserve it. It will have earned it.

The team. The coaches. The owner. You.

As Anzalone wrote, you showed out, and showed up. He mentioned the wild-card game, and the scene at Ford Field.

And?

“Running out of the tunnel with three fractured ribs, feeling absolutely no pain. Eminem in the building with 65,000 people singing 'Lose Yourself.' Jared Goff with ice water in his veins in such a big moment for the whole city. Banishing all the ghosts of 1991, which is about 10 years before a lot of our young guys were even born.”

This is why you will watch Sunday. Why you must watch. Because Dan Campbell will be watching. Brad Holmes will be watching. Anzalone will be watching.

You will watch because Anzalone’s son, Cooper, asked him this:

“Daddy, did you go to the Super Bowl?”

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“No, buddy. We didn’t. But don’t worry. We’ll get there.”

We’ll get there.

False hope? Silly optimism? No, Anzalone believes. They all believe.

“What we’re building here is extremely special,” he wrote. “You can talk about it all day, but the proof is in the pudding, as they say. It’s one thing to say that a city, and a team, and a culture is unique. It’s a whole other thing to actually turn down the cheddar. Great to have you back, Coach Ben (Johnson) and Coach (Aaron Glenn).”

Anzalone doesn’t care that he might feel silly hanging out at Super Bowl party watching a team his team beat and another it almost did. He’ll be watching anyway.

If he can, so can you.

Just make sure you have enough salsa for everyone.

Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions fans should watch Super Bowl. Just ask Dan Campbell