The Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals are the two remaining teams in the NFL playoffs, with the Rams being slight favorites to win the Super Bowl. There are going to be plenty of storylines discussed between now and Feb. 13, including Sean McVay coaching against his former assistant in Zac Taylor, and Andrew Whitworth facing his former team.
But when it comes to the matchups on the field, the Rams have a clear advantage in one area: the trenches.
During the regular season, the Bengals allowed 55 sacks (third-most in the NFL) while the Rams accumulated 50 sacks as a defense (third-most in the NFL), so it’s not a surprise to see such a stark contrast in Cincinnati’s pass-block win rate and Los Angeles’ pass-rush win rate. Joe Burrow, himself, was sacked a league-high 51 times.
On the flip side, the Bengals ranked 25th in pass-rush win rate and the Rams had the best pass-block win rate. The closest matchup comes with Cincinnati’s No. 10 ranked run-block win rate and Los Angeles’ No. 1 ranked run-stop defense.
Super Bowl trench matchups could not be more stark:
LAR pass rush win rate (#1) vs CIN pass block (#30)
CIN pass rush (#25) vs LAR pass block (#1)LAR run block win rate (#12) vs CIN run stop (#25)
CIN run block (#10) vs LAR run stop (#1) pic.twitter.com/Ys1K4zsfvn— Brian Burke (@bburkeESPN) January 31, 2022
Despite the obvious advantages that the Rams have over the Bengals in the trenches, Cincinnati has overcome its weaknesses in the playoffs thus far. Burrow was sacked nine times in the divisional round versus the Tennessee Titans and the Bengals still found a way to pull out a victory.
With the Rams boasting a defensive front with Aaron Donald, Von Miller, Leonard Floyd, and Greg Gaines, they realize they have quite a mismatch against the Bengals’ offensive line. That being said, it remains to be seen if Cincinnati makes the necessary adjustments to overcome their deficiencies in the trenches to even the playing field in the Super Bowl.
