Like most Super Bowls, the focus of Super Bowl LVI will be on the two quarterbacks.
The Rams’ Matthew Stafford, who escaped Detroit a year …
Like most Super Bowls, the focus of Super Bowl LVI will be on the two quarterbacks. The Rams’ Matthew Stafford, who escaped Detroit a year ago and now has the Rams on the verge of a title, and Joe Burrow, the wunderkind who piloted the Bengals here in his second season. The quarterback battle has plenty of intrigue with two No.1-overall draft picks squaring off for just the second time (Peyton Manning vs. Cam Newton in Super Bowl 50 was the other). But this game goes much deeper than the quarterbacks. There are star wide receivers, questions about the offensive lines and Aaron Donald, who might be the best player in the NFL. With that in mind, let’s take a deeper dive into the matchups we’ll see Sunday night in Super Bowl LVI: It is hard not to love what Burrow has accomplished in these playoffs. The second-year wonder has overcome poor pass protection to win three games and get the Bengals here. He was sacked nine times in the divisional round against the Titans, but still found a way to win. Donald, the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, leads a unit that was ranked third in the league with 50 sacks. Burrow was the most-sacked quarterback in the NFL, going down 51 times in the regular season. If the Rams can dominate the line of scrimmage, it will be hard for Burrow to work his magic. Donald had 12.5 sacks this season, and he is joined on the line by former Super Bowl MVP Von Miller, who has a sack in six of his past seven games. The Rams ranked 22nd in pass defense but gave up just 17 touchdowns, the second-fewest in the league. Jalen Ramsey might be the best cornerback in the NFL. It will be a fascinating matchup if he covers Bengals rookie star receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Chase had 1,455 receiving yards in the regular season, the most by a rookie in the Super Bowl era. In the postseason he has a rookie-record 279 receiving yards. Edge: Bengals Can the Bengals take some of the pressure off of Burrow by running the ball? The Bengals ranked 23rd in the regular season in rushing yards per game and have not really controlled games in the playoffs on the ground, though they did rush for 116 yards in the AFC Championship game against the Chiefs. Joe Mixon is the Bengals’ lead back, and he had a strong season with 292 rushes for 1,205 yards and 13 touchdowns. The Rams have a strong defensive line, led by Donald.
