Photo [Touchdown Wire - USA Today]

Super Bowl LVI Preview

Edward previews this Sunday’s Super Bowl

This Sunday’s Super Bowl at SoFi stadium in Los Angeles will be the first in which neither Tom Brady nor Patrick Mahomes has featured in the past five years. Instead, this championship game will feature the matchup between two former No. 1 draft picks in the Rams’ Matthew Stafford and the Bengals’ Joe Burrow, only the second time in the Super Bowl era that this has happened.

Joe Burrow – Photo [Sports Illustrated]
The Bengals’ journey to the Bowl has not been easy. Most bookmakers had them as the underdog in all three of their playoff matchups. They were impressive against Derek Carr and the Raiders and then advanced to the AFC conference championship by defeating the top-seeded Titans with a walk-off field goal. Against Mahomes and the star-studded Chiefs, the Bengals incredibly overcame an 18-point deficit at halftime with an elite second half performance from Burrows and the Bengals’ defence. A clutch field goal from Evan McPherson in OT sent them to the Super Bowl.

Coming into the season, the Rams were certainly considered favourites amongst the league to reach the Super Bowl, but nevertheless the way they did so was not any less impressive than the Bengals’ championship push. Give credit to the Rams’ management and Les Snead for his ambition towards assembling a super-team to go out and win a championship. Initially, the decision to forgo valuable future drafts for established but ageing players such as OBJ and Von Miller seemed risky, however the payoff has been significant, and the Rams’ have fielded a top five offense and defence across the regular season. Their playoff run has demonstrated their resilience as a team: they crushed the Cardinals in the wildcard round and survived close games against the Bucs and the 49ers to reach their second Super Bowl in the past five years.

Rams vs Bengals – Photo [Fox 19]
As a neutral, the prospect of Stafford vs. Burrows is extremely enticing. Both players are extremely likeable and there are players in both organisations who I would love to see win a ring. Whilst a Super Bowl would elevate Burrows’ status to one of the most elite QBs in the game, Stafford certainly deserves his shot after thirteen years in the league.

What to Look Out For

1. Burrows vs. Stafford:

Despite a devastating ACL suffered by Burrows during his rookie season, he has done precisely what the organisation had envisioned in the 2020 draft by taking the Bengals to their first playoffs in the last 31 years. He enjoyed great success as LSU’s talismanic Heisman Trophy winner and led them to an undefeated season in 2019. This has foreshadowed his sophomore season. His confidence and leadership have been lauded by teammates and he has evolved into one of the most likeable players in the NFL. Matt Stafford has been through the ringer during his years in Detroit, going 0-3 in his previous playoff appearances, but his 3-0 performance so far this season has shown that he is as formidable of a quarterback as any one of his peers. Whilst some might cite the variety of weapons that he has at his disposal as the root of his success, his leadership in the locker-room and on the field, as well as his obvious chemistry with the likes of Kupp and OBJ, have shown that he is capable of being a game changer. If Burrows can maintain his level of consistency and Stafford can limit cheap turnovers, this Super Bowl should showcase two talented QBs playing the best football of their lives.

Matthew Stafford – Photo [Turf Show Times]
2. Tee Higgins vs. Rams’ secondary:

The Rams will match Jalen Ramsey with Ja’Marr Chase leaving 6”4 WR Tee Higgins to the likes of Darius Williams and the rest of the Rams’ secondary who have struggled to prevent deep plays and defend against checkdown routes. The size mismatch is notable, and Higgins will be a significant source of chunk plays for Burrows to target.

Tee Higgins – Photo [theleaguewinners.com]
3. Rams’ defensive line vs. Bengals’ offensive line:

Aaron Donald, Von Miller and Leonard Floyd constitute one of the more fearsome pass rushes in recent years. The Bengals will be tired of the narrative of their maligned OL, but the fact remains that they allowed 51 sacks this season. Burrows’ scrambling ability has revealed itself throughout the season, but his OL will need to step up against LA to allow their QB to make the necessary plays.

4. Rams’ weapons vs. Bengals’ secondary:

Cooper Kupp – Photo [Sky Sports]
Kupp will line up with Hilton, and McVay will look to play reduced formations to work the ball to his record-breaking receiver in the slot. Thereafter, Bengals’ CBs Chidobe Awuzie and Eli Apple (who struggled against the pace of Hill against the Chiefs) will be tasked to cover OBJ and Van Jefferson. All three of the Rams’ elite WRs can be deployed in a variety of routes so the Bengals will look to lock off the backfield with their safeties and keep Stafford guessing by mixing up coverages. Whilst Lou Anarumo (Bengals’ defensive coordinator) successfully adapted the Bengals’ defence to the weaknesses of Mahomes in the Conference Championship, it remains to be seen how he will fare against the dynamic offense of the Rams.

Prediction: Bengals 30-26 Rams

Comments

comments

76 thoughts on “Super Bowl LVI Preview

  1. I am often to blogging and i really appreciate your content. The article has actually peaks my interest. I am going to bookmark your web site and maintain checking for new information.

  2. I’m not sure exactly why but this blog is loading extremely slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.

  3. Hey what a brilliant post I have come across and believe me I have been searching out for this similar kind of post for past a week and hardly came across this. Thank you very much and will look for more postings from you

  4. Having read this I thought it was rather informative. I appreciate you spending some time and energy to put this short article together. I once again find myself personally spending a lot of time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worth it!

  5. What i do not realize is in fact how you are now not really a lot more smartly-appreciated than you may be now. You are so intelligent. You already know thus considerably in terms of this matter, made me personally believe it from so many numerous angles. Its like men and women are not interested except it is something to do with Girl gaga! Your own stuffs great. Always care for it up!

  6. I have been exploring for a little for any high-quality articles or blog posts on this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this site. Reading this info So i am happy to convey that I have a very good uncanny feeling I discovered just what I needed. I most certainly will make sure to don’t forget this web site and give it a glance on a constant basis.

  7. Excellent post. I was checking constantly this blog and I am impressed! Extremely helpful information particularly the last part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was looking for this certain information for a very long time. Thank you and best of luck.

  8. Hi would you mind stating which blog platform you’re working with? I’m going to start my own blog soon but I’m having a hard time deciding between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your layout seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique. P.S My apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!

  9. I simply wanted to develop a word so as to appreciate you for all the nice solutions you are writing on this website. My incredibly long internet lookup has at the end been recognized with pleasant know-how to go over with my co-workers. I ‘d declare that most of us visitors actually are very much endowed to dwell in a great place with many perfect individuals with useful techniques. I feel quite happy to have come across your website and look forward to really more enjoyable minutes reading here. Thanks once more for all the details.

  10. You can definitely see your enthusiasm within the work you write.
    The sector hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe.
    All the time go after your heart.

  11. Thank you so much for giving everyone a very brilliant chance to read in detail from this website. It’s always so superb and also stuffed with a lot of fun for me and my office co-workers to search your website at the least thrice weekly to see the newest secrets you have got. And indeed, I am just certainly pleased with your staggering methods served by you. Some 3 ideas in this posting are in reality the best we have all had.

  12. Whats up are using WordPress for your site platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you require any html coding expertise to make your own blog? Any help would be really appreciated!

  13. Great ?V I should definitely pronounce, impressed with your web site. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs as well as related information ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Quite unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, site theme . a tones way for your client to communicate. Nice task..

  14. I like what you guys are up too. Such intelligent work and reporting! Keep up the superb works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my web site 🙂

  15. Hello there! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog. Is it tough to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any points or suggestions? Appreciate it

  16. I like the valuable information you provide on your articles.
    I’ll bookmark your weblog and take a look at once more right here
    regularly. I’m rather certain I will learn lots of new
    stuff proper here! Best of luck for the next!

    my site: coupon

  17. Do you have a spam issue on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was wanting to know your situation; many of us have developed some nice methods and we are looking to trade techniques with others, why not shoot me an e-mail if interested.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

THE STAND