Super Bowl LVI: Rams favorites but don’t count out the Bengals
The stage has been set for Super Bowl LVI and we now know who the two teams will be to fight it out at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, February 13, 2022.
After an amazing few weekends of NFL playoff football, the AFC will be represented by the Cincinnati Bengals for the very first time since 1988, whilst the NFC will have the Los Angeles Rams representing them as they will look to do what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had managed to do the year before: host and win the Super Bowl at their own stadium in the same year.
Of the hundreds of millions of people from around the world that continue to tune in to the showpiece, many will be looking forward to the Super Bowl Halftime show that consists of musical royalty in the form of Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem, but let’s not forget the main event is about the hour of football that will be played over the four quarters; although if the games that were played out in the playoffs are anything to go by, we could certainly be in store for overtime too!
Let’s take a look at who the favorites for the Super Bowl are and what each one will bring to one of the premier sporting events in the world.
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Who are the favorites to win Super Bowl LVI?
Despite being classified as a neutral venue, it is impossible not to recognize that SoFi Stadium is the home to the Los Angeles Rams and that has perhaps played a role in the fact that they are considered favorites to win Super Bowl LVI on February 13, 2022.
Sportsbooks such as Unibet’s Virginia online gambling platform has provided residents in the state with the opportunity to get odds of -195 for the Rams (at the time of writing), whilst the Bengals are priced at +160 to be able to do what they are yet to have achieved in the team’s history: win a Super Bowl.
Rams have star quality that will help them justify favorites tag
The home-field advantage that the LA Rams will likely have is not the only reason that many have made them favorites to come out victorious, though, as many will believe they have the talent available to them to make them champions for the first time since 1999 and return to the biggest game following their defeat at Super Bowl LIII in 2018 to the New England Patriots; a game that happens to have been the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in history following a 13-3 score.
Indeed, adding to the likes of Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey, the defense managed to bring in Von Miller, whilst the offense saw the likes of Cooper Kupp and Cam Akers star whilst trades to see the likes of Matthew Stafford, Odell Beckham Jr, and Sony Michel have worked wonders for Sean McVay’s team in a year that has been all about bringing the Super Bowl back to Los Angeles.
Don’t count out the Cincinnati Bengals
However, it would be extremely naive to count out the Cincinnati Bengals and completely rule out their chances, especially as Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Evan McPherson, and many of the other players on the roster for the Ohio-based organization continue to play a starring role for the AFC franchise.
As mentioned, the franchise is yet to win a Super Bowl and has had to wait over 30 years to get to this point, with their previous playoff victory before this year having been over 11,300 days ago.
It is also worth noting that before Burrow arrived as the number one pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Bengals were the worst franchise in the entire NFL over the last two seasons, having had a record of 6-25-1 over 2019 and 2020.
It is also worth noting the impact that their quarterback has had in such a short time, given that he had a major knee injury in the 2020 season, leading the 25-year-old to miss the final six games of that campaign.
Exceptional game expected
Nonetheless, whilst much of the sports fan base will have been pleased that we have a Super Bowl that does not feature Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes, we are still going to be in for an exceptional showpiece and we simply cannot wait for February 13, 2022, to arrive!