Styles make fights.
And for Sunday’s Super Bowl battle between the Bengals and Rams, it’ll come down to which matchups either team can consistently exploit.
The NFC champion Rams (15-5) possess a strong front seven and an explosive receiving corps with a star QB in Matthew Stafford. The former No. 1 overall pick escaped Detroit and the always-lousy Lions and threw 41 touchdowns in his first season in L.A., and has added six more TDs in the postseason.
The Bengals (13-7), the champions of the AFC, have elite weapons for second-year sensation Joe Burrow to toss the pigskin to and a strong defensive line led by Trey Hendrickson ( who logged 14.5 sacks in the regular season).
The Rams, who are playing Super Bowl LVI in their home stadium, are the oddsmakers’ pick coming into Sunday’s matchup a four-point favorite.
But here are three matchups to watch on Sunday that will determine who walks away with the Lombardi Trophy.
Bengals O-line vs. Rams D-line
This is one of the biggest mismatches we’ve seen in a long time.
The Bengals have the worst offensive line among the teams that made the playoffs. Burrow has been under siege all year and was sacked 51 times during the regular season. Against the Titans in the divisional round, the unit allowed nine sacks and Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, who earned Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors in 2021, sacked Burrow three times. Simmons is a great player, but he’s not Aaron Donald.
Donald is arguably the best defensive lineman to ever exist and he consistently destroys offensive lines. He’s netted 98 sacks in his eight seasons in the NFL. Donald has earned defensive player of the year three times and has been first-team All-Pro every season since 2015. He’s recorded at least 11 sacks in six of his eight seasons.
Also, former Super Bowl MVP Von Miller is a three-time first-team All-Pro member and has 115 sacks in his career. The former Broncos star — who was a dominant force in Denver’s Super Bowl 50 win — joined forces with Donald after a November trade. Donald had 12.5 sacks and Miller registered 9.5 in 2021. Leonard Floyd is the forgotten man of the group, but he can get after the passer, too. Floyd finished with 9.5 sacks in 2021.
Which gets us back to the fact that the Bengals offensive line stinks and is no match vs. the Rams. Tackle Jonah Williams is the worst offender as he’s allowed 48 hurries and 10 sacks. Guard Hakeem Adeniji and guard Quinton Spain both allowed six sacks. Tackle Isaiah Prince gave up five. Expect to hear the Bengals offensive line names mentioned a bunch on Sunday as they allow Donald, Miller and Floyd to crush Burrow.
Bengals WRs vs. Rams DBs
The Rams defensive backs, led by star cornerback Jalen Ramsey, have some firepower. But the edge still goes to the Bengals as they have one of the best receiving groups in the NFL.
Ja’Marr Chase — the fifth-overall pick out of LSU in the 2021 NFL draft — finished his first year by setting the rookie record in receiving yards (1,455). He also caught 13 touchdowns. Chase was second-team All-Pro. Tee Higgins is as good as you can find in a No. 2 receiver with 1,091 yards and six touchdowns in 14 games. Tyler Boyd is their slot receiver and is one of the best in the NFL (828 regular-season yards with five touchdowns).
Darious Williams is a solid corner as QBs completed only 60% of their passes during the ‘21 campaign throwing in his direction and he had nine pass breakups. But I like Higgins and Chase in those matchups against Williams. Safety Nick Scott, a special teamer, has played a bunch in the postseason since safety Taylor Rapp is dealing with a concussion. And Eric Waddle came out of retirement for this playoff run.
Outside of Ramsey and Williams, the rest of the secondary corps is OK, which favors the Bengals.
Bengals CBs vs. Rams WRs
Rams slot receiver Cooper Kupp is having a historic season. Kupp secured the triple crown of receiving with 145 catches for 1,947 yards with 16 touchdowns in the regular season. And he has continued his dominance in the Rams’ playoff run with 25 receptions for 386 yards and four touchdowns. Bengals nickel corner Mike Hilton will match up with Kupp. QBs are completing 72% of their passes when targeting the fifth-year pro. But he snagged two interceptions with three pass breakups in his first season in Cincinnati.
Chidobe Awuzie and ex-Giant Eli Apple combined for four interceptions and 20 pass breakups. So they’ve played well throughout the year. QBs have a passer rating of 85 when throwing at Apple and 78 when targeting Awuzie.
But Odell Beckham is reminding folks he’s still a premier receiver. Beckham had five touchdowns in the regular season after joining the Rams in the second half of the season. Then in the playoffs, he’s netted 236 yards receiving and grabbed one touchdown as the Rams’ No. 2 receiver. Just think about how many teams would love to line up Beckham as their No. 1 wideout and you get an idea of how loaded the Rams are.
Beckham and Kupp should have a ton of success against the Bengals cornerbacks.
