The Cincinnati Bengals aren’t supposed to be here. Not yet at least.
The Bengals had 125-1 odds to make it to Super Bowl 56, making them the most surprising big-game participant since the 1999 Saint Louis Rams. They were underdogs in each of their last two playoff contests and won all three of the games they needed to get to Los Angeles via final play fortitude (one defensive red zone stand, two walk-off Evan McPherson field goals).
It’s been a dramatic ride for a franchise making its first appearance in the NFL’s season finale since 1989. Cincinnati will be an underdog once more when it faces the Los Angeles variant of those barnstorming Rams. LA opened as a 4.5-point favorite, per Tipico Sportsbook.
This won’t bother Joe Burrow, Jessie Bates III, or head coach Zac Taylor. All they’ve done in 2021-22 is find ways to win. They took down the AFC North and then the AFC proper to put the malevolent spirit of Marvin Lewis to rest and escape three decades of haunting. They embodied what we all thought the Bills would be this winter.
Now they’re tasked with doing Buffalo one better and finally winning a Super Bowl. It’s reasonable to think they can. They just have to hammer down a few vital strategies first.
