SUPER BOWL 56 LA CALLING
Underdog Bengals, Rams make history in Super Bowl
Where are the No. 1s? And the No. 2s? Sitting at home, watching football in February.
With the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams surviving one of the most upset-filled NFL playoffs to reach Super Bowl 56, this will be the first title game without a top two seed since seeding began in 1975.
The AFC’S top-ranked Titans fell to Cincinnati in the divisional round, then the Bengals beat No. 2 Kansas City for the conference title. Meanwhile, the NFC’S top-seeded Packers also were upset in the divisional round to San Francisco on the same weekend the second-seeded Buccaneers were beaten by the Rams. LA took care of the 49ers in their conference championship matchup, breaking a six-game slide against their Northern California archrivals.
So it's a pair of fourth-seeded teams going at it in the Rams' home stadium, tying the highest combined seeding of eight when No. 6 Green Bay defeated No. 2 Pittsburgh in the 2011 game.
BETTER BELIEVE THE BENGALS
Still, only one of these teams can be called surprising: the Bengals.
Don't ever say that to them, however. “We are a special team that is capable of doing special things,” says third-year coach Zac Taylor. “We believed from the get-go, whether people believed us or not, we did. We are not surprised. This is where we are meant to be.”
While the Rams have been collecting veteran talent via trades and free agency — quarterback Matthew Stafford, linebacker Von Miller, cornerback Jalen Ramsey and wide receiver
Odell Beckham Jr. — the Bengals have stuck to the draft as their main mode of improvement. Unlike many of LA'S stars, Cincinnati has set its foundation with impressive work on draft days.
Of course, the Bengals had to be the worst team in the NFL in 2019 (2-14) to earn the right to select LSU quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow first overall. Seeing his rapid development that has drawn comparisons to Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck and Patrick Mahomes, the team often dubbed “the Bungles” for messing up certainly seems to have gotten that one right.
“Yeah, when the game is on the line, he is going to figure it out,” Taylor says of his quarterback. “He just finds a way to make plays when there isn't a play to be made. It makes my life much easier. It doesn't have to be the perfect play call, he is going to figure it out.”
No matter how much he figures out things, no quarterback gets his team this far alone — though many will argue that Tom Brady managed that a lot in New England. Burrow might be the hottest commodity at quarterback, but his supporting cast, mostly coming from the draft, has been superb in the postseason after the Bengals won the AFC North at 10-7.
Wide receiver Ja'marr Chase, Burrow's buddy from LSU, where they won a national championship in 2019, came with the fifth overall pick in April. Chase, like his Rams counterpart Cooper Kupp, seems unstoppable at times.
His partners at wideout, Tee Higgins (2020 second round, Clemson) and Tyler Boyd (2016 second round, Pitt), plus emerging tight end C.J. Uzomah (2015 fifth round, Auburn) are homegrown. Throw in placekicker Evan Mcpherson, who came in the fifth round last year and hasn't missed a postseason attempt, and
the skill positions and special teams are in great shape.
Cincinnati's defense, while also significantly draft flavored, relies on free agent addition Trey Hendrickson for much of its pass rush.
RAMS ASSEMBLE IMPRESSIVE ROSTER
Players from other teams? That's something the NFC West champion Rams are more than familiar with.
Indeed, the wheeling and dealing of general manager Les Snead and coach
Sean Mcvay is the roster’s hallmark. Yes, LA'S best player, the generational defensive talent, tackle Aaron Donald, was a firstrounder in 2014 and Kupp came in the third round in 2017.
Still, with Hollywood nearby, the Rams have taken the big star approach in many other dealings. That includes trades for Stafford before the season, Ramsey from Jacksonville in 2019, Miller from Denver in November. Beckham was signed in November after he was released by Cleveland.
“I came late to the party, but I know how much it means, and I feel like a part of it,” Beckham says. “I’ll be celebrating like I’ve been here the whole time.”
Here means not only on the Rams, but at their Sofi Stadium, home for the Super Bowl. No team managed that before the Buccaneers did last year.
LA'S offensive approach isn't much different than Cincinnati's, which is no shocker considering that Taylor worked for Mcvay before taking over the Bengals. The key difference is in big-game experience — on both sides of the ball.
Stafford is in his 13th season, and his left tackle, Andrew Whitworth, spent his first 11 NFL years with Cincinnati before joining the Rams in 2017. Punter Johnny Hekker is a 10-year veteran, Donald in his eighth season, and the Rams don't rely on too many younger guys, by NFL age standards.
“We went out and got him because we thought it was a chance to be able to get a great player of his magnitude,” Mcvay says of Stafford, though he could be referring to their other such moves. “Those things don't come around often. What he's done, he's elevated everybody around him. He's made me a better coach. He's
made his teammates better.”