What to watch for. Breaking down the matchup. Betting advice. Stats to know. Impact players. Injury updates. Expert predictions. It’s all here for Super Bowl LVI.
Super Bowl LVI kicks off on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET, with the Cincinnati Bengals facing the Los Angeles Rams. The two teams each emerged from their conference’s No.4 seeds after winning their respective divisions. The matchup represents the first time since 2003 that participant teams enter with a combined zero or one Super Bowl titles, and the two quarterbacks — Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow — are each trying win their first Vince Lombardi Trophy in their debut postseasons with their teams. Our NFL team has you covered with everything you’d ever want to know for Rams-Bengals, including team previews, bold predictions and game picks. We also provide betting advice from our ESPN Chalk experts, game-plan breakdowns from our analysts and in-depth statistics from our ESPN Stats & Information team. We look at the two quarterbacks, the head coaches, key rookies and some X factors as well. We even preview the officiating, halftime show, injury report and top Super Bowl MVP candidates. It’s all here in a handy one-stop cheat sheet. Let’s dive in, starting with an overview of the exciting matchup. Jump to: Preview| Picks| What’s at stake Stats to know| Bold calls| QBs MVP watch| Matchup| Rookies Betting advice| Injuries| Coaches Season review| Officiating| Halftime When: Sunday, Feb.13 at 6:30 p.m. ET Where: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, Calif. Television: NBC and ESPN Deportes Depth charts: Rams| Bengals When you think of a classic Super Bowl matchup, you think of two teams that have dominated their competition and run rampant through the playoffs. This is not that matchup. Both teams trailed in their respective conference championship games as the fourth quarter started. The Bengals needed a dramatic comeback and a spectacular self-destruction from the Chiefs to advance. The Rams blew a 24-point lead in the divisional round against the Bucs and needed 49ers safety Jaquiski Tartt to drop a gift-wrapped interception to spur their win over the 49ers. And yet, these teams are here because their stars did star things. Cooper Kupp and Ja’Marr Chase made huge catches to set up game-winning field goals. Jessie Bates III started the divisional-round game vs. the Titans with an interception and sent the Chiefs’ offense to the sideline for the winter by creating another. Aaron Donald finished Jimmy Garoppolo ‘s 49ers career with a pressure to force a pick. Joe Burrow ducked through a sure sack to scramble for a critical first down. These teams have weapons on both sides of the ball that can singlehandedly decide games. Whichever team stops more of those stars wins this game. — Bill Barnwell, senior NFL writer Read more: Barnwell’s ultimate preview… First look at the matchup… How did Cincinnati build this unique roster… Super Bowl returns to its birthplace… FiveThirtyEight’s guide… Tales of Super Bowl nerves ESPN’s FPI predicts a Rams victory in 66.3% of its simulations by an average of 5.6 points. Our matchup rating grades Rams-Bengals as a 74.7 on a scale of 1 to 100. The Rams were No.6 in FPI this season, while the Bengals were No.15. In the preseason, the Rams had a 10.7% chance to make the Super Bowl per FPI, but the Bengals were looking at an 0.4% chance. We asked 76 experts to weigh in on who will win. The Rams were picked by 43 of them (56.6%), while the Bengals claimed 33 votes (43.4%). Read more: ESPN staff predictions… Madden’s Super Bowl simulation… Chris Berman’s Swami Sez pick The Rams are trying to write the perfect ending for their Hollywood script — winning a Super Bowl in their home stadium after making an all-in effort. They’re going for the second championship in franchise history (1999) and first since their 2016 move back to Los Angeles, where they’re still trying to win over a lukewarm fan base. It would be redemption for coach Sean McVay, who has lamented some of the mistakes he made in the team’s loss to New England in Super Bowl LIII, and it would give Aaron Donald the one thing his résumé is missing. Given how much the Rams mortgaged their future to win this season, this will likely be their best shot at a Super Bowl in a while. — Brady Henderson, Seahawks reporter (covering Rams) Sam Acho and Dan Graziano dissect Odell Beckham Jr.’s run to the Super Bowl and how that has changed the perception of his career. Cincinnati has lost both previous trips to the Super Bowl — losses to the 49ers in 1982 and 1989. If the Bengals can get another upset win in the postseason, Cincinnati will join the 49ers as the only teams that went from worst in the NFL to Super Bowl champs in the span of three seasons, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. With a young core that features quarterback Joe Burrow, Cincinnati should be playing for the Lombardi trophy on a regular basis. The Bengals are in their 54th season, which would be the most by any franchise before winning its first championship in NFL history, per Elias. — Ben Baby, Bengals reporter Team stats: Rams| Bengals According to ESPN metrics powered by NFL Next Gen Stats, the Rams ranked first in pass rush win rate this season. The Bengals, meanwhile, ranked 30th in pass block win rate, and they were 25th or worst in pass block win rate at every position (the five OL spots, TE and RB). And this will be the third Super Bowl matchup featuring an offense sacked 50-plus times during the regular season (Bengals) and a defense that racked up 50-plus sacks (Rams). Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald (127, first) and Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (107, third) rank in the top three in first pressures this season, including the playoffs. Hendrickson was 11th in pass rush win rate (21.9%), and the Bengals’ pressure rate fell from 33% with him on the field to 21% with him off it. Donald, though, had the second-highest pass rush win rate this season (26.7%), despite being double-teamed at the sixth-highest rate in the NFL (64%). In fact, Donald’s 23.1% pass rush win rate when being double-teamed was the same as sack leader T.J. Watt ‘s overall mark. And when both Donald and edge rusher Von Miller are in the pass rush, the Rams have a pass rush win rate of 54.2% (including the playoffs). Including the playoffs, receivers Cooper Kupp (Rams) and Ja’Marr Chase (Bengals) are Nos.1 and 2 in receiving yards this season, making it the first time the top two in that category have met in the Super Bowl. They are also the only two receivers with at least 1,200 receiving yards outside the numbers in a season since 2007. Kupp led the NFL in receptions (145), yards (1,947) and TDs (16) this season. And now he has a handful of single-season playoff records within reach. He needs 161 receiving yards to pass Larry Fitzgerald ‘s 546, seven catches to move past Travis Kelce (31) and three TDs to tie Fitzgerald’s seven. One area where he stood out this year was downfield. He had more catches (28 vs.25) and touchdowns (seven vs. five) on vertical routes this season than in his previous four seasons combined. And then there is Chase, who had 81 catches for 1,455 yards and 13 TDs this season. His 279 receiving yards in the postseason are already the most among rookies in a single playoffs, and he’s the only rookie receiver to have multiple 100-yard receiving games in a playoffs. And like Kupp, he makes the vertical game a threat: Burrow and Chase connected on 14 deep fade routes for 517 yards and six TDs — all of which were the most by a duo over the past five seasons. Laura Rutledge breaks down all the intricate stats for what you can expect between the Rams and the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI. This is the second Super Bowl between teams that each finished in the bottom 10 in rushing yards (2008). But Cincinnati running back Joe Mixon was third in the league in rushing with 1,205 yards, and his 16 total touchdowns tied Pete Johnson for the second most in a season in franchise history. Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Bengals safety Jessie Bates III leads the NFL in ball hawk rate (26%) since the start of last season, including the playoffs and among players who saw at least 75 targets. Will Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey shadow Chase? His highest shadow rates of the season have all come since Week 12 and have been against elite receivers, but the only instance of Ramsey shadowing a player more than 60% of the time was the divisional round ( Mike Evans,69%).
