![]() It was the only quarter in which they failed to score.Ĭontaining Kupp was always going to be a tough ask, even with Odell Beckham Jr. ![]() This hurt the Bengals late, as they scored zero points in the fourth quarter. He finishes the postseason having been sacked 19 times, which is the most a quarterback has been sacked in a single postseason. Burrow's seven sacks taken tie the Super Bowl record. However, they fell apart in the second half, and allowed six sacks. How would they hold up against Aaron Donald and Co.? The offensive line actually did a great job in the first half, allowing just one sack. They allowed nine sacks against the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round, and Burrow spent half the AFC Championship game dodging Kansas City Chiefs pass-rushers. What went wrong for the BengalsĬoming into this matchup, plenty was made about Cincinnati's offensive line. could get absolutely nothing going on the ground, and that's a credit to this defensive front. The Rams had just 43 rushing yards, with Cam Akers being their lead man with 21 yards on 13 carries. Mixon was efficient on the ground as well, as he rushed for 72 yards on 15 carries, averaging 4.8 rushing yards per touch.ĭefensively, the Bengals front four played intense football for all four quarters. Higgins did just that, as he caught both of Cincy's two touchdowns. And there are few defenses he could have hoped to meet less in Super Bowl LVI.Rookie phenom Ja'Marr Chase had a great game with five catches for 89 yards, but the Bengals definitely needed another playmaker to step up. Burrow won't be able to engineer a win if he can't stay upright in the pocket. We can talk about how the pairings of Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase and Stafford and Kupp were two of the most explosive passing attacks we have seen in the modern NFL.īut it all starts with Burrow and Stafford, two quarterbacks whose teams have risen and fallen with them all season. ![]() We can break down how Joe Mixon and Cincinnati's run game stack up against the Rams run defense or how the Bengals secondary will try to limit the damage Cooper Kupp can do. In the regular season, Burrow was sacked 51 times and the Bengals gave up 55 sacks overall, third-most in the NFL. The question is whether Burrow's offensive line can give him the protection he will need against a vaunted Rams defense that had 50 sacks this season, third in the league, along with 95 quarterback hits. ![]() It wasn't as good as Stafford's stat line (4,886 yards, 41 touchdowns, 17 interceptions, 67.2 completion percentage), but Burrow has shown he can hold his own against a fellow gunslinger. He had a stellar completion percentage of 70.4. walk away with the Lombardi Trophy that easily. In only his second season in the NFL, Burrow put together a season worthy of a veteran, throwing for 4,611 yards and 34 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. One year later, the Rams will do it as well at SoFi Stadium, a narrative the league couldn't have planned any better if it had tried.īut Joey Franchise (take your pick of his many nicknames) isn't going to let Matthew Stafford and Co. Heading into last postseason, a team had never played a Super Bowl in its home stadium before Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the first. The Bengals are the underdogs heading into the Rams' house for the Super Bowl (that's especially ironic considering that the AFC is designated the Super Bowl home team). Let's take a closer look at the odds heading into Super Bowl LVI. It's a terrific matchup between two offensive juggernauts, anchored by two quarterbacks with huge arms who have proved they can engineer incredible comebacks when their backs are against the wall. There, they will face Burrow's Bengals, who will play in their first Super Bowl since the 1988 season. Now Sean McVay's Rams return to the Super Bowl for the second time in four years.
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