Super Bowl 56 Prediction

 

It. Is. Here. After 18 weeks of regular season play, and a wild postseason, Super Bowl 56 has finally arrived, featuring a great matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams (who will be hosting the big game at SoFi Stadium).  Before the season, if you told me that the Rams, led by the dynamic duo of Matthew Stafford to Cooper Kupp, future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald, and coach Sean McVay were going to the Super Bowl, I wouldn't be surprised. But the Bengals? What a amazing turnaround for Cincy, and now led by Joe Burrow/Joe Shiesty/Joe Brrr and Ja'Marr Chase, the Bengals have a chance to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history. Who's taking home the Vince Lombardi Trophy? Here's what I think:

When the Bengals have the Ball:

First, let's start with the Bengals offence. After averaging 27 points in the regular season. Cincinnati has averaged 24 points in the playoffs, a slight drop off. So the fact that the Bengals are in the Super Bowl while their offence hasn't exactly held up to their standards should excite Bengals fans/bettors. Burrow is coming off a solid performance against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship, throwing for 250 yards, and 2 TDs. Both star wideouts Ja'Marr Chase (6 catches, 54 yards, 1 TD) and Tee Higgins (6 catches, 103 yards) made a huge impact as well. Tight end C.J. Uzomah (who suffered a MCL injury in the Bengals win over the Chiefs) is expected to suit up. It will be interesting to watch the matchup between the Bengals' poor offensive line going up against the Rams' vaunted front seven led by Aaron Donald, Von Miller, and Leonard Floyd. Cincy has gotten to this point in spite of their O line, but this will arguably be the toughest challenge they've faced all season long. Also, will we see Rams star defensive back Jalen Ramsey follow Chase? Or will the Rams resort to sticking Ramsey in the slot to help slow down Joe Mixon and the Bengals running game? We shall see.

When the Rams have the Ball:

Now let's talk about the Rams' offence. Like their Super Bowl counterpart, L.A. averaged 27 points during the regular season. In the postseason, they've averaged 28 points per game, led by Matthew Stafford, newly crowned Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp, and Odell Beckham Jr. Stafford has enjoyed a great postseason, throwing for 6 touchdowns and just 1 interception, Beckham had a great performance in the NFC Championship game against the 49ers (9 catches, 113 yards), and Kupp (who has of course played great all year) has taken his game to another level in the playoffs as well, coming off an 11 catch, 142 yard-2 touchdown performance in the NFC Championship. The Rams rushing attack is led by Cam Akers, and Sony Michel who have provided some relief to Stafford and the passing game in the playoffs. However, the Bengals' defence is enjoying a great postseason, they've been excellent in the three playoff games (besides the first half in Kansas City), allowing just under 20 points per game. The pass rush, led by Trey Hendrickson (16.5 sacks, incl. playoffs) and Sam Hubbard (10.5 sacks, incl playoffs) has been terrific, although they'll have a tough matchup going against a Rams offensive line that only gave up two sacks to the 49ers vaunted D line in the NFC Championship.

Prediction:

 

All in all, on paper, this is shaping up to be a great game. There's a lot of hype surrounding this game, and I think it's rightly deserved.  We got plenty of star players looking for their first rings (Aaron Donald, Joe Burrow, Matthew Stafford, Jalen Ramsey, etc), two young head coaches going at it (Bengals coach Zac Taylor coached under Sean McVay for two seasons with the Rams from 2017-18 before getting hired by the Bengals), all occurring under the bright lights in Los Angeles. While the Bengals' cinderella story has been an absolute treat to watch this season, the Rams are just the better team. And of course, as we all know, the better team doesn't always come out on top. But I'm betting on it here. The Rams traded for Matthew Stafford because they knew that he could help them win it all. I think he does, and the Rams win a (kind of surprising) low-scoring game to become the second team to win the Super Bowl in their home stadium.

Rams 24 Bengals 21