The first thing that happened after the Super Bowl was set up was that everyone looked at all the possible storylines of that Super Bowl to gauge how interesting it would be. Not to understand the media meta, but with a two-week wait after Sunday’s game championships, there’s often a tendency to over-exaggerate to the point of saturation.
With the Bengals and Rams meeting for a surprise Super Bowl 56 match, there’s no shortage of that, as it’s not the Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or Josh Allen affair anyone would expect.
Here’s a section to help you cut through the early stories and stick to what’s really important in analyzing what could go down between Cincinnati and Los Angeles, during Sporting’s annual Super Bowl. News.
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Super Bowl 56 legends: Fiction versus fact
Myth 1: The Rams have the home field advantage
At first, the Rams were playing at SoFi Stadium but they were assigned to the laning team because of the way conferences rotate the years with that status. Second, the Rams won twice in Los Angeles in the knockout stages but they were only there 5-3 in the regular season, losing to quality opponents in the Cardinals, 49ers and Titans. The Bengals defeated the Titans in the detachment round.
The Super Bowl will be packed with local Rams fans in their seats, but expect SoFi Stadium to be packed with Bengals fans who have been waiting 33 years for this moment to return. Some will pull out all stops to get from Cincinnati to Los Angeles. The Rams had just attended Super Bowl 53 and put on a blah performance against the Patriots. As much as the NFL sells the Rams as a mega-market team, they don’t attract sentimental investment. Heck, even NBC’s team of Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth will have secret feelings during their time in Cincinnati.
The Rams are favorites on paper, but the Bengals will be favorite underdogs for many non-dog owners in the fight, unless they’re linked to Dawg Pound in Cleveland, and even then. , they might like Odell Beckham Jr. did not receive a ring.
THAN: 49ers fans take over SoFi Stadium again at NFC championship game
Myth 2: The Rams’ defenses will bury Joe Burrow
Please don’t make a drinking game how many times some experts talk about how the Bengals’ offensive line with Aaron Donald will put Burrow out of a chance to win Super Bowl 56, because you don’t want to go through too much. many bottles of tequila before gameday guacamole. Donald is an excellent defensive player, the best in the game and the most feared interior vandal. He now has a team partner in seventh place Defensive Player of the Year, Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller.
Burrow is the most fired QB in the league (51 times!) in the regular season. He was dropped nine times (nine times!) in the squad against the Titans. He’s overcome that as an MVP passer who continues to get better with every game at 25. The defense can still win championships, but Burrow has proven that it does. That doesn’t worry him. He’ll be there and deliver on another day of competition for Cincinnati’s pass. He will also intelligently avoid Jalen Ramsey as well as he deftly handles pressure.
DISTANCE: Rams’ huge bet on Super Bowl victory means the immediate future is all that matters
Myth 3: Cooper Kupp and Ja’Marr Chase are the key recipients of the game
Kupp won the triple-receiving title (receipt, yard, and touchdown) as a 100-yard and goal-scoring machine. Chase rose to the most impressive rookie position of the season; He’s a player who plays both across the pitch and knocking down the ball after a catch. The defense will do their best to stop these two with various appearances, but in the end, Kupp and Chase will be publicly planned and highly influential because of their talents.
But Kupp has a dangerous new number 2 in Odell Beckham Jr., who has replaced the injured Robert Woods. Chase can be considered a companion with Tee Higgins. The team that can make the most of the “other” starting word wins the game. Both OBJ and Higgins have won conference championships over the centuries; The person with the bigger game is likely to be on the winning side.
THAN: Beckham says Von Miller, Jalen Ramsey called him ‘every day’ to take him to LA
Myth 4: Sean McVay will outlast Zac Taylor
McVay’s coaching tree no longer carries the joke about how obsessed people are about finding the next trainer just like him. It’s serious business with Taylor, his former wide-earning coach and quarterback, coaching him in the Super Bowl.
McVay is 36 years old, two years younger than Taylor. Taylor is known for his time with McVay, which got him a job with the Bengals, but former Nebraska QB’s NFL coaching experience goes back a decade to his time with the Dolphins.
Taylor’s staff, which included offensive coordinator Brian Callahan and defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, was outstanding in its own right. Those top aides are all as important to him as offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell and defensive coordinator Raheem Morris have been for McVay. Bengalis are well trained; That’s evident in their savvy, mistake-free play. Their young core, starting with Burrow, is years wiser. The Rams have more veterans on the itinerary, but on the sidelines, McVay and Taylor will be roughly even as they operate on the same tall aircraft.
THAN: Success came quickly to McVay’s disciples
Myth 5: The Bengal defense has no one to stop Rams
The Bengals defense received some much-needed attention in the knockout stages with the way it slowed down the Raiders, Titans and Chiefs. Late defensively Trey Hendrickson proved to be an elite freestyle pickup who changed their course. He was the one to finish game 4 first, which was already a strong point, with Sam Hubbard finishing and facing off against DJ Reader and BJ Hill. At the second level, Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt were explored in midfield. Corner defenders Chidobe Awuzie, Mike Hilton and Eli Apple – although the latter are heavily skewed – had moments in the news. Safeties Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates were held accountable for major blunders in the knockout stages.
With Donald, Miller and Ramsey on the other side, there is no way the Bengals defense will get the highest payout. On paper and in numbers, they didn’t look good, but they looked perfect and Anarumo planned well to tweak them from week to week, half to half. They can yield numbers to Kupp and Beckham, but they can slow the run and put pressure on Stafford to change the game at key moments.
THAN: Eight plays showing Mahomes, Chiefs defeat to Bengals
Myth 6: Running games won’t matter for Burrow and Stafford
The best way to prevent passes from going out of midfield is to not have to pass all the time to get the baseline gauges. The Bengals would gladly pursue Mixon’s attack on the Rams. They also know when to dial in the “run extension” with on-screen plays for Mixon and Samaje Perine. Cincinnati is only 14th in pass frequency in 2021, while Los Angeles is only 16th.
Mixon can find good runs when Bengal spreads out the field with 11 or 10 men. Calling his number for power between plays will allow the Bengals’ inside line to push around Donald and try to knock him down.
The Rams’ running game so far in the knockout stages is an afterthought. They’ve never had an individual race with a 60-yard crack between Cam Akers and Sony Michel. But they have had a diminishing effect in the regular season with Michel’s inclusion. They ran well enough to keep the defense honest and facilitated passes down the pitch for Stafford.
Both teams can also adopt the classic maxim “Pass to score, run to win” when leading in the second half.
THAN: How Burrow, Bengals Repeat History vs Tops in AFC Championship
Myth 7: Bengals vs. Rams was a disappointing match
Coming to full circle, this is not Brady playing in one last Super Bowl before he retired. This isn’t the third time Mahomes has made the big game in three years and is looking to double his ring total again. This isn’t Rodgers, love him or hate him, finally showing up for a second, and possibly last, Super Bowl for the Packers. Josh Allen seems ready to light up the biggest stage.
But don’t underestimate the fact that Burrow is fronting the next wave of elite quarterbacks in the AFC with Mahomes and Allen, or that he channels some of Brady, Joe Montana’s and many old-school Super Bowl winning styles. other dictionary QBs.
And let’s not forget that Stafford has a good redemption story as the overall #1 pick. It’s no small feat that he was suddenly able to match Rodgers, Russell Wilson and, yes, Drew Brees in the Super Bowl arenas. That, along with his entire 2021 season, could change his story from disappointing Detroit to Canton consideration in Los Angeles, a Kurt Warner with the Rams (and Cardinals), with a smaller excelent window.
THAN: Burrow on diamond-encrusted necklaces: ‘Too much money for fake necklaces’
Donald is back for a Super Bowl. So does Miller. Ramsey is playing his first game after missing the game against the Jaguars. Andrew Whitworth has another crack at 40. Between Kupp, Chase, Higgins and Beckham, there will be plenty of fun getting talent on the field.
This is also the final game of the great NFL knockouts. You can feel good that something spectacular is going to happen. Don’t type it until you see it. One should not be surprised if the Bengals vs. The Rams become the latest “Greatest Super Bowl of All Time,” because when that’s the next one, it will be.
