Super Bowl LVI Preview - Cincinnati Bengals Vs Los Angeles Rams

This weekend sees the culmination of the NFL season as the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals will clash in Super Bowl LVI.

The NFC Champions will start as the big favourites as they play the game on their home field, the brand new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Los Angeles, however the Bengals had a better away record than home during the regular season and beat both the number 1 seed Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs on the road during the playoffs.

It promises to be a hugely exciting game so let’s find out more of the key details including the latest odds with bet365 Sport.

Super Bowl lines are already up for the 2022/2023 Super Bowl odds. Check out who is the early favorite.

Super Bowl LVI – Details

Super Bowl LVI will take place on Sunday 13^th February at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, home to both the Chargers and Super Bowl finalists, the Rams. Facing the Rams will be the Cincinnati Bengals, the surprise AFC Conference Champions who have relied on former LSU pair Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase along with RB Joe Mixon to reach this stage.

The Rams could become the second team in successive years to win the Super Bowl on their home field, following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year, whereas a win for the Bengals would be their first Super Bowl victory, after losing on their three previous appearances in the big game.

QB Matt Stafford has been a huge part of the Rams success, as has WR Cooper Kupp, but the mid-season signings of WR Odell Beckham Jr and LB Von Miller have proven to be masterstrokes as added to the likes of CB Josh Norman and the outstanding DT Aaron Donald on defense, means the Rams are stacked with talent on their roster.

How Did The Bengals And Rams Reach The Super Bowl?

• Cincinnati Bengals

Led by QB. Joe Burrow and their first round draft pick WR Ja’Marr Chase, the Bengals were the somewhat surprising winners of the AFC North, finishing with a 10-7 record to earn the fourth seed in the conference in the playoffs.

They beat the Raiders 26-19 in the Wild Card Round before taking advantage of Ryan Tannehill having a nightmare day as the Titans QB threw three interceptions as the Bengals edged out the Titans 19-16 in Nashville.

A week later it was the Chiefs who succumbed after the Bengals came back from a 21-3 deficit to earn a place in the Super Bowl with a stunning 27-24 victory in overtime. Evan McPherson kicked the winning field goal after the Bengals defense had intercepted Patrick Mahomes opening possession in overtime.

• Los Angeles Rams

The hugely competitive NFC West provided three of the seven NFC playoff teams and the Rams would beat the other two on their way to the Super Bowl in their home stadium.

The regular season saw the Rams finish top of the division with a 12-5 record, earning the fourth seed in the NFC and that meant a Wildcard Weekend game against their divisional rivals the Arizona Cardinals.

The Rams were superb against the Cards, landing a 34-11 win before they travelled to Tampa Bay to take on the Super Bowl holders, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and they managed to hold off a late Tom Brady-inspired comeback to best the Bucs 30-27.

Next up were the 49ers, another divisional rival, and a team who had beaten the Rams twice in the past regular season and in all of their last 6 games. It looked like the 49ers may do it again when they led 17-7 in the third quarter but a fourth quarter comeback saw the Rams clinch a 20-17 victory.

What Are The Current Market Odds With Bet365 Sport For Super Bowl LVI?

Over the course of the last week or so, there has been more money bet on the Los Angeles Rams as their handicap has increased to -4.5 on the spread market with bet365 from around -3.5 a week ago.

The Rams are now the 1/2 odds on favourites to win the Super Bowl with the Bengals the 17/10 outsiders on the money line.

However, with over 250 markets already available on the Super Bowl with bet365, plus a brand new Bet Builder option to build your own same game accumulator bet, punters now have more choice than ever about what markets to back on the big game.

How Did My Predictions For The 2021/22 NFL Season Perform?

At the start of the 2021/22 NFL Season following Free Agency and the Draft, I had a look through the teams set to compete over the year and picked three teams I thought may suffer a slide in fortunes, while I picked five I felt would have good seasons and be contenders for the playoffs and Super Bowl.

Let’s now revisit those picks and see how each one did over the course of the season and whether my tip was a good, or bad one.

NFL Teams Set To Slide

San Francisco 49ers – Partly Right

The 49ers squeaked into the playoffs with a final week defeat of the Rams after a 10-7 season, so I think I was partly right that the team wouldn’t be as strong as many people felt (and certainly their 11/1 price warranted). However, in the playoffs the 49ers excelled beating the Cowboys and Packers before losing narrowly to the Rams.

Denver Broncos – On The Money!

Denver never addressed their issues at quarterback properly and no signing of Aaron Rodgers materialised, which meant that their top ranked defense’s hard work was often undone by the Broncos offense not being able to score points. Vic Fangio paid the penalty for that by being sacked but if the new HC does not bring in a top quality QB, then the Broncos will continue to struggle.

Green Bay Packers – Bad Call!

In my defense, I backed the Packers to have a bad year on the assumption that one or both of Aaron Rodgers or Davante Adams would leave them last summer. Neither did and both played a huge role in the Packers finishing top of the NFC North and NFC Conference once again. The same questions will now be asked in this off-season too.

Five Contenders?

Buffalo Bills – On The Money!

The Bills won the NFC East and were only knocked out of the playoffs by an inspired Kansas City Chiefs, who then lost the Conference Championship game to the Bengals. Josh Allen and this Bills team look good to be challengers in the AFC for many more seasons to come.

Los Angeles Rams – On The Money!

My best pick of the bunch, the Rams not only triumphed in the difficult NFC West division, but they have come through the playoffs to defeat the Cardinals, Buccaneers and 49ers to claim a spot in the Super Bowl. And with the game taking place on their home field at SoFi Stadium, they have every chance of following the Bucs into the record books as only the second team to win the Super Bowl on their home turf.

Cleveland Browns – Bad Call!

The Browns didn’t tank this season but finished with an 8-9 record, good enough for third in the AFC North, where the top team (Bengals) had an 10-7 record. However injuries, key players moving on and troubles at quarterback with Baker Mayfield having an up and down season did mean that the Browns didn’t perform as well as I’d hoped.

Tennessee Titans – On The Money!

The Titans lost their only playoff game to the Bengals, but in truth, they threw that game away and should have won it. They finished top of the AFC to earn the first seed in the playoffs, but then gave away that advantage with a poor display in the Divisional week. Even so, it was still a solid season for the Titans and one they should learn from.

Los Angeles Chargers – Bad Call!

The Chargers finished with a 9-8 record and stood one game from the playoffs, but their final week loss to the Raiders meat they missed out and as such, this wasn’t the best call. The Chargers offense isn’t the issue, defense is and I’d be hugely surprised if they don’t focus on that in the forthcoming Draft and free agency. This team is 1 or 2 players away from being very, very good.

Of course, I’d loved to have included the Cincinnati Bengals in the above list but considering that they were one of the rank outsiders to land a Super Bowl berth this year at the start of the season, I don’t think I’m the only one who didn’t see the Bengals being the AFC’s representatives in Sunday’s big game.

You can read the original full prediction article for the past NFL 2021/22 season below!

Our Pre-Season Super Bowl Contenders As Predicted In July 2021

The NFL Draft is in the bag, free agency has been under way for a considerable amount of time and while there are still the occasional signings and trade rumours, most NFL teams are now getting ready for the first of their pre-season games in August with the first of a number of mandatory training camps.

All in readiness of course for the first day of the new NFL season.

It has certainly been a huge off-season in terms of the moves made by certain teams and all those moves have seen the odds on which team will be the Super Bowl winners in February 2022 change somewhat over the last few months.

Some teams that were previously not considered big favourites have seen their odds shorten on winning the biggest honour in American Football, while other teams that were generally viewed as being likely contenders have seen their odds fall due to players leaving, contract issues with star players and similar.

In this article, we are going to take a look at five teams that we think could well be in with a serious chance of landing the Super Bowl title this season, some of whom have been amongst the favourites for some time now and some of whom have made such great signings in the draft and/or the pre-season that they have emerged as a potential contender.

In this article, we have used odds shown as provided by bet365 Sport, which were all correct at the time of writing (Monday June 26 2021).

Remember too that you can enjoy plenty of betting on the Super Bowl winner market in the United States too, with BetRivers Sportsbook a very good option for betting on the NFL both before and during the season.

So which teams do we think stand a realistic chance of Super Bowl success this coming season and which teams do we think will fall short, despite being highly rated by the bookmakers? Well, let’s take a look at the latter first with three teams tipped to do well by the bookies, but who I think will struggle this season.

Flattering To Deceive? NFL Teams Set To Slide?

• San Francisco 49ers – 11/1

Sure the 49ers were Super Bowl finalists a couple of years ago, but last year they finished bottom of the NFC West with a 6-10 record. I don’t see where they have added enough quality to the team to overcome that kind of record in what looks like being the toughest division in the NFL next season with four teams all with genuine playoff ambitions.

If Aaron Rodgers got his wish to move to California and to the 49ers, then I’d change my opinion but until that happens, I can’t see the 49ers being anywhere near the Super Bowl next season.

• Denver Broncos – 20/1

By all accounts, the Denver Bronco’s were just a top-level quarterback away from being a genuine contender in the AFC West last season but despite that, they finished bottom of the division, with a 5-11 record. That to me is a team that has more issues than simply at quarterback. I do feel the Broncos have improved since last season, but not the extent at which they are a 20/1 chance to win the Super Bowl.

• Green Bay Packers – 22/1

All is not well in Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers still wants a move away from Wisconsin and now there is talk that key wide receiver Devonte Adams also wants to move on after contract talks broke down between his agent and the franchise. A Green Bay without a motivated Rodgers and Adams on offense is a much, much weaker team than that which reached the NFC Championship game last season. And if either do get a trade away, that could leave Green Bay’s season in shreds.

Five Contenders – Teams Who Could Well Go To The Super Bowl

For the purposes of this article, I am going to assume that both last year’s Super Bowl finalists, the Kansas City Chiefs (9/2 favourites) and the current Super Bowl holders the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (13/2) are the obvious selections here.

So, which other five teams could also be genuine Super Bowl contenders?

• Buffalo Bills (11/1)

The Bills were the losing team in the AFC Championship game last season and the feeling is that over the closed season, they have only improved. Solid moves in free agency, plus a good selection of talent from the NFL Draft, with key players like Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs always seemingly fit and able to play. Physically they are strong and Allen’s multi-dimensional play makes the Bills a tough task for any defense to scheme against. They should go very very close this season.

• Los Angeles Rams (12/1)

When the Rams moved on Jared Goff to Detroit as part of the deal to bring in Matt Stafford, the aim was clear, It was a chance for the Rams to win and win this season. With Aaron Donald still the dominating presence on an improving defense, the addition of Stafford gives the Rams and the former Lions signal caller a real chance of getting into the post-season and close to that Super Bowl appearance that both would love.

• Cleveland Browns (16/1)

Another excellent draft by the Browns has given them a real chance at challenging Baltimore and Pittsburgh in the NFC North. If able to select their full-strength team for the majority of the season, then this Browns team is certainly the best they have had in many, many years. They have a great mix of genuine play makers (Beckham Jr, Mayfield, Chubb, Hunt, Landry), but also a steely resolve which is always needed in one of the toughest and most physical of AFC divisions. §

• Tennessee Titans (25/1)

The Tennessee Titans contended for the AFC Championship two years ago and reached the playoffs last year. An explosive offense, their issue seemed to be on defense and the pass rush, so signing Bud Dupree, looks a great move, as does Caleb Farley at corner to help in coverage, if both can stay fit. However, their high-scoring offense also received a massive upgrade with the signing of Julio Jones. If the key to beating Kansas City in the AFC is to score more points than them on offense, the Titans have the team to do that now.

• Los Angeles Chargers (33/1)

I think the team that could make the most rapid improvement this season is the Chargers. They have been drawn in a tough division, but they have made a number of astute signings in Free Agency and also some excellent picks in the draft which will immediately help their star new quarterback Justin Herbert. With a year in the NFL under his belt, I expect Herbert to fire this team into genuine contention despite being in a tough division. Those 33/1 odds may look very generous after the first 6-8 weeks of the new season.