After what can be described as some of the best playoff football in years, the season finale is upon us. The Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams will face off on Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, for the Super bowl.
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are the bookies’ favourites to win this one. Matt Stafford brought them this close to making history and would be a pretty good bet to win it all. However, when it comes to the Super Bowl, being favourites doesn’t seem to matter too much.
In terms of their actual play, the Rams offence runs through Cooper Kupp, who is playing at such a high level, nearly impossible to cover. He’s clearly having a historically great wide receiver season. He followed up his 145-catch, 16-touchdown regular season with 25 catches and four touchdowns during the Rams’ postseason.
Another positive the Rams should look to exploit could be making use of one-on-one opportunities for Odell Beckham Jr. Van Jefferson is another one who will also benefit from the extra attention placed on Kupp. The ability to utilize Odell could have a major impact on this game for the Rams.
The Aaron Donald Factor
Everyone knows how good Aaron Donald is at this point. He is easily on his way to becoming one of the best defensive players in the history of the NFL. His ability to deliver elite-level performances and production from defensive tackle is second to none. He finished the regular season with 12.5 sacks as he just tore through teams on defence. As long as the Rams intend to win, Aaron Donald must be integral to those plans.
For the Rams to win this, they must avoid the self-destruction that has occurred during some of their games this year. The occasional fumble, bad snap or horrible interception allows teams to stay in the game. On paper, LA possesses better personnel but it remains to be seen if that will translate to a win.
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Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow just seems to have something about him that makes it impossible to write him off. It is impossible to talk about the Bengals without comprehensively discussing the trio of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. These three exceptional players will form the nucleus of what is bound to be a successful Bengals future.
Self-awareness for Cincinnati is key here. They know their offensive line fails to measure up in terms of quality and effectiveness. It has been their weakest element spot throughout the season. Joe Burrow was sacked 55 times but despite that, there have been numerous times where the offensive game plan mitigated these issues. When Cincinnati leans majorly on its short routes, then Burrow is pressured far less.
A lot of this game’s outcome could hinge on the battle between Ja’Marr Chase and Jalen Ramsey. Chase is becoming one of the NFL’s strongest physical receivers and we know how much Jalen Ramsey relishes taking on physically daunting assignments.
Tossyard Prediction – Rams 24 – Bengals 20
