Who Will Win Super Bowl Fifty-Six (LVI)?
By Ras H. Siddiqui
Super Bowl LVI will be played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood California on Sunday, February 13, 2022, pitting the Cincinnati Bengals of the American Football Conference (AFC) against the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football Conference (NFC).
The SoFi venue is relatively new (2020 opening) and is amongst the largest NFL stadiums in the country (capacity just over 70,000). And with the local team, the Los Angeles Rams playing in this game it should be a packed house. The Los Angeles Chargers of the AFC also share the SoFi Stadium with the Los Angeles Rams and can call it their home turf, but it is the Rams who have made it to this Super Bowl. Before we move on to the final matchup itself let us briefly highlight how each team got the opportunity to possibly carry home the Vince Lombardi Trophy at this Super Bowl.
The AFC playoffs picture was quite interesting with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills winning the Wildcard Round against Pittsburg and New England respectively and the Cincinnati Bengals beating the now (groan) Las Vegas Raiders to reach the AFC Divisional Round. In the Division games, Cincinnati edged the Tennessee Titans 19-16 and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills 42-36. That set up the AFC Championship game between the heavily favored Kansas City Chiefs against the Cincinnati Bengals. And quite a game it was, one for the history books. The Chiefs led by formidable Quarterback Patrick Mahomes were leading by 21-10 at the half. But the Bengals just would not give up and came back with 11 points in the 3 rd quarter and added a field goal in the 4 th to tie the game (the Chiefs scored just 3 points in the entire second half). In overtime the Bengals managed a field goal and with a 27-24 final score reached the Super Bowl. Both teams had the talent, but the Bengals had the determination to win.
The NFC was even more interesting and the main reason for that was the San Francisco 49ers. In the Wildcard Round the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Wildcard 49ers beat the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys respectively and the Los Angeles Rams obliterated the Arizona Cardinals to reach the Divisional Round. In the Division games the miracle-inspired San Francisco team edged out the Green Bay Packers 13-10 and the Los Angeles Rams did the same without miracles to Tampa Bay 30-27 in a hard-fought game. That set up the “All California” NFC Championship game between the Rams and the 49ers. It was in this game that those of us who live in Northern California had our hopes dashed, because the last-minute miraculous plays that the 49ers fans had banked upon and become used to just did not materialize this time. Leading 10-7 at the half, San Francisco was up 17-7 at the end of the 3 rd quarter only to fall apart in the 4 th. The Rams scored 13 points in the 4th quarter to edge out a 20-17 win and earn a trip to the Super Bowl. The 49er lucky streak was over.
Now to the Super Bowl LVI (56) game between the Rams and Bengals. It should be no surprise that the Los Angeles Rams are favored to win. They are playing this game at their own stadium which will be full of Rams supporters to cheer them on. Most of Los Angeles, the second largest metropolitan area in the United States will be backing their team, and the expensive seats will be grabbed by local celebrities including the Hollywood elite. The Bengals on the other hand have limited venue support in comparison and will have to depend (pretty much) on their playing ability alone. The Rams have already won one Super Bowl (January 2000) when they were the Saint Louis Rams. And we need to note that the Cincinnati Bengals have never won a Super Bowl. In their two appearances (January 1982 and 1989) the Bengals lost both times to the San Francisco 49ers. Could “Third Time is a Charm” work for them this time around since their nemesis 49ers have been eliminated?
The two teams are evenly matched if one looks at their averaged current season performance. It is hard to believe but they are both 7 th in points scored per game (27.1) and 9 th and 10 th in total yards (Rams 386.1 and Bengals 385.2). The Rams do have a slight edge in passing yards per game (287.8) over the Bengals (282.7). But it is the Bengals who have an edge in their rushing game 102.5 yards versus the Rams at 99. Overall, they both have a similar offensive capability stat. In defense the picture is similar with neither side performing better by any wide margin. The Rams are 17 th in the League allowing an average of 344.88 total yards per game while the Bengals are 18 th with 350.82. In points scored against the Rams averaged 21.9 and the Bengals 22.1. This Super Bowl is so closely matched that each side has even reported 3 injuries each! The winner of this game will most likely be determined by which team can minimize mistakes or penalties.
What we can conclude is that neither side far outshines the other in this matchup. But one of them still must win, and that call needs to be made. With all the venue advantages that the Los Angeles Rams have in this Super Bowl being a California team, blasphemy will be committed if one predicts that the Cincinnati Bengals will win. But to make things interesting let us do just that here even at the risk of annoying many friends in the Los Angeles area. The Bengals are the underdogs in Super Bowl LVI due to the venue, but true grit on their part will help them win the Vince Lombardi trophy for the very first time. If they do not succeed, then the half-time show should offer some brief entertainment.
