The Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams meet on Sunday in a surprise Super Bowl match-up.
Here, we take a look at the statistical issues surrounding the game.
Franchises
The Bengals will play only the third Super Bowl in their history and first since the 1988 season.
That came when head coach Zac Taylor was five years old, while prior to this season they had not even won a play-off game since January 1991 – almost six years before quarterback Joe Burrow was born.
The Rams won Super Bowl XXXIV after the 1999 season, when they were based in St Louis, and have since finished as runners-up to the New England Patriots after the 2001 and 2018 seasons. This will be their fifth Super Bowl appearance in all.
They follow last season’s champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the second team in successive years to play a Super Bowl on their home ground, a feat which had never previously been achieved. The Bengals, though, are Sunday’s designated home team.
Coaches
Sean McVay has been one of the league’s most successful coaches since taking charge of the Rams aged just 30 in 2017 – named NFL coach of the year that season, making the play-offs in four of his five years in charge and now preparing for his second Super Bowl.
The first saw his vaunted offence shut down in a 13-3 defeat to the Patriots, and the Rams went 9-7 the following season, but they have bounced back in style.
His success has seen several of his assistants earn head coaching jobs elsewhere – including Taylor, who coached the Rams’ receivers in 2017 and quarterbacks in 2018.
Unlike his mentor, Taylor was not an immediate success – posting a 6-25-1 record before this season – but he has piloted an ascending offence to the big game this time around.
Players
The Rams made the bold call last summer to trade quarterback Jared Goff and several high draft picks for the Detroit Lions’ Matthew Stafford and if they have felt the benefits, so has Stafford.
Having never won a play-off game before this season and played in only three in 12 Lions seasons, this will be his fourth in his debut Rams campaign. In their three wins he has completed 72 of 100 passes for 905 yards, six touchdowns and one interception and added two rushing scores.
Opposite number Burrow can rival those numbers, completing 75 of 109 attempts for 842 yards, four touchdowns and two picks despite taking 12 sacks.
That last figure will be of concern against a Rams front featuring three-time NFL defensive player of the year Aaron Donald, who had 12.5 sacks in the regular season, flanked by Von Miller and Leonard Floyd. The trio have added 4.5 of the Rams’ five post-season sacks.
Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson ranked fifth in the regular season with 14 but goes up against Andrew Whitworth – an ex-Bengal of 11 years’ service and still excelling as the first offensive lineman ever to play after turning 40. Tom Brady’s retirement made Whitworth the league’s oldest player.
The Rams’ Cooper Kupp won the NFL receiving ‘triple crown’, his 145 catches, 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns all leading the league, and has added 386 yards and four scores in the play-offs. Odell Beckham Jr has added to Stafford’s arsenal with six touchdowns in 11 games since joining the Rams – just one short of his total in 29 games for previous employers the Cleveland Browns.
Rookie Ja’Marr Chase had 81 catches for a Bengals-record 1,455 yards, with 13 touchdowns. He leads a strong receiving corps but is likely to be shadowed by cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who matched his career best with four picks this season.
The Bengals’ trump card may just be another rookie – kicker Evan McPherson’s perfect record in the play-offs extends to 12 field goals, including back-to-back game-winners, and four extra points.
