RAMS (15-5) VS. BENGALS (13-7)
When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood
TV/radio: Channel 4; 710 AM, 93.1 FM, 1330 AM (Spanish)
Line: Rams by 4
Notable injury designations: Rams: TE Tyler Higbee (knee) and OL Joe Noteboom (chest) were placed on injured reserve; RB Darrell Henderson (knee) and NT Sebastian Joseph-Day (chest) were activated; S Taylor Rapp (concussion) is cleared to return. Bengals: TE C.J. Uzomah (knee) is questionable.
What’s at stake? It’s the final exam for the judgment by L.A. GM Les Snead and coach Sean McVay that bringing now-34-year-old QB Matthew Stafford over from the Detroit Lions to join forces with WR Cooper Kupp and the Rams offense would make a Super Bowl winner of both. While resisting the “Super Bowl or bust” narrative, the Rams clearly made moves to take advantage of having Super Bowl LVI on home turf. The pressure to win now weighs more heavily on the Rams than the Bengals.
Who’s better? Four points is a relatively big point spread for a Super Bowl, and it reflects the Rams’ superiority by most measures all season. That doesn’t mean the Bengals can’t spring another postseason upset after beating the Titans and coming from behind to shock the Chiefs. But Football Outsiders analytics say that if Cincinnati wins, it will have the lowest regular-season overall rating of any NFL champion since 1983.
Matchup to watch: Rams CB Jalen Ramsey vs. Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase. Cincinnati needs a big game from the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, whose attributes include the fact his yards after catch ranked behind only Kupp and the 49ers’ Deebo Samuel. Ramsey allowed a 71.1 passer rating on throws in his direction during the regular season, fourth lowest among cornerbacks with 16 starts or more.
Rams win if … If Stafford continues to meet situations as well as he did in the three playoff games; the Rams are 13-1 when he commits one or zero turnovers … If the Rams’ defensive front takes advantage of the Bengals’ offensive line and records at least three sacks; QB Joe Burrow was sacked at least three times in all of Cincinnati’s losses … If the special teams, led by K Matt Gay and PR Brandon Powell, keep up the performance that has made them the Rams’ most-improved unit from early to late season.
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Fantasy pick: Kupp. McVay won’t miss the chance to capitalize on having the NFL Offensive Player of the Year for this Super Bowl after he was injured for Super Bowl LIII. Per Football Outsiders analytics, the Bengals have the lowest-rated pass defense the Rams have faced since they routed the Jaguars 10 weeks ago.
Prediction: Rams 27, Bengals 20. Underdogs have generally been good bets in recent Super Bowls. And the Bengals have beaten the spread in seven games in a row. But in this matchup, expectations should be high for the Rams to bring home – the 50-mile drive from SoFi Stadium to their practice facility in Thousand Oaks – the first Super Bowl championship in their L.A. history.