5 reasons Bengals will win their first Super Bowl
LOS ANGELES — The hometown Rams will enter the Super Bowl as a pretty clear favorite to lift the Lombardi Trophy in their own stadium on Sunday night.
That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.
The Bengals have been underdogs in each of the last two games and somehow found a way to navigate the treacherous waters of the AFC to become one of the last two teams standing.
It’s not going to be easy, but Cincinnati has overcome the odds before. Here are five reasons why the Bengals could win the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium:
1. Never out of it
It’s not just that the Bengals have been able to win as underdogs the last two games.
They were completely written off before halftime of the AFC championship game against the Chiefs.
Kansas City led 21-3 late in the first half at Arrowhead Stadium two weeks ago. Twitter was having a field day making fun of the Bengals for getting blown out. But the Bengals’ defense took over in the second half, and Joe Burrow made enough plays to give Cincinnati the lead.
The Bengals were written off again late in the fourth quarter once the Chiefs drove inside the 10-yard line. But the defense stiffened yet again and held Kansas City to a field goal that forced overtime.
Then the Chiefs won the coin toss and most of the planet expected them to go right down the field and end the game with a touchdown. Instead, the Bengals came up with an interception to set up the winning field goal.
The Bengals may lose, but the Rams are going to have to finish them. Cincinnati is going to keep swinging until the final whistle.
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2. Super Bowl Sean McVay
It’s difficult to question the credentials of the “Boy Genius,” who has led the Rams to the Super Bowl for the second time and just turned 36 years old last month.
But he’s going to have to shake off the memory of what happened the last time he made it this far when McVay admitted he overthought every detail.
The result was complete stagnation.
McVay’s creative offense looked very pedestrian as the Rams were held to just three points and were forced to punt on a Super Bowl-record eight consecutive drives.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor was on that staff and actually got hired by Cincinnati just days later. He’s well aware of what happened and will look for his team to replicate what Bill Belichick’s New England defense did to the Rams that day.
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3. Opportunistic defense
So much of the attention on Cincinnati’s surprise run to the Super Bowl has been focused on Burrow and the offense. But it was Lou Anarumo’s defense that mixed things up and turned the game around against the Chiefs in the second half.
That unit has also forced seven turnovers in three playoff games, including six interceptions.
As good as Rams QB Matt Stafford has been at times, he can get mistake prone.
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4. The Tiger King
Burrow has saved his best for last, particularly in the postseason.
He has completed 28 of 33 passes in the fourth quarter and overtime for 311 yards and a touchdown, leading the Bengals to game-winning field goal drives in each of the last two games.
Even going back to his days at LSU, Burrow’s numbers in so-called must-win games have been borderline ridiculous.
His legend continues to grow with each victory. It would be cemented with one more this season.
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5. Game said so
The Bengals came out on top 24-21 in the official Madden ‘22 simulation of the Super Bowl earlier this week.
Burrow completed 32 of 44 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns, leading Cincinnati on a game-winning drive to set up Evan McPherson’s 49-yard field goal as time expired.
Cooper Kupp did have 12 catches for 102 yards for the Rams in the loss, but Burrow was named the virtual MVP.
Cincinnati’s Eli Apple had a key 29-yard interception return for a touchdown to tie the game in the third quarter in the simulation after the Rams led at halftime.
Of course, the simulation has only been right about half the time. But let’s ignore that for the sake of this argument.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.