The best teams don’t always win the Super Bowl and sometimes they don’t even make it that far. The Cincinnati Bengals made sure the best teams in the AFC wouldn’t be competing in Super Bowl LVI by knocking off the top-seeded Tennessee Titans in the divisional round and taking out No. 2 seed Kansas City in the AFC Championship game. Two seasons after going 2-14, the Bengals are competing for the NFL championship taking on the Los Angeles Rams in SoFi Stadium on Sunday, February 13.
After posting the worst record in the NFL in 2019 the Bengals used the No. 1 pick in the draft on LSU’s Heisman Trophy winner and national champion Joe Burrow. The team showed progress last season before Burrow tore up his knee midway through the campaign. The Bengals doubled their win total to four but nobody expected them to be a contender in 2021. They were picked to finish last in the AFC North, had long odds to make the playoffs and even longer odds to reach the Super Bowl. Having that crystal ball back in September would have led to a big payday after Sunday’s win over the Chiefs.
NFL Super Bowl LVI Odds
Los Angeles Rams -4
Cincinnati Bengals +4
Total 48.5
Their opponent in the 56th edition of NFL’s Super Bowl has a different story. The Rams made some concessions to upgrade the roster, most notably at the quarterback position. They cut ties with former No. 1 pick Jared Goff in a trade for another former No. 1 pick Matthew Stafford. Always considered a talent lost in the wasteland of Detroit football, Stafford was given a chance to prove he could win. Three playoff appearances with the Lions ended up in losses, but that didn’t sway Rams management.
Stafford came up big in the divisional round triumph over Tampa Bay after his mates tried their hardest to give the game away. Blowing a 27-3 lead, Stafford led the team to a game winning field goal after the Bucs knotted the game at 27-all in the final minute. And he brought the team back from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to upend the 49ers in the NFC Championship.
The Rams don’t have a first round draft pick until 2024, but their win-now approach is close to paying off. With the Super Bowl scheduled for SoFi Stadium, the team knew this season was a big one. They became the second team and second in as many seasons to play the Super Bowl in its home stadium. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers trounced Kansas City at Raymond James Stadium to cap last season.
The Rams weren’t done though. They added Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. during the season giving them another superstar on each side of the ball. And they both made contributions to LA’s playoff run. OBJ had 113 receiving yards in the win over the Niners, his first 100-yard game since Week 6 of the 2019 season with Cleveland.
The Rams failed to cover the 3-point spread against the Niners, their first ATS loss this postseason. They had gone 6-2 ATS in eight games before the NFC Championship. They are 8-1 SU and 6-3 ATS in their last nine games overall. They opened as a 4-point favorite on the Super Bowl betting line.
The question for the Bengals is when does the Cinderella story end? They upset the top seeds in the AFC on the road coming back from a 21-3 deficit to beat the Chiefs in overtime in the AFC Championship. They are fearless and confident that they can beat anyone. That has a lot of early bettors backing them and they’ve been a profitable wager recently going 7-0 ATS in their last seven games.
There isn’t much history between the teams. They’ve played five times this century and 14 times since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970. The last meeting took place in 2019 with the Rams getting a 24-10 win in England. Goff and Andy Dalton were the starting quarterbacks in that game.
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