Whether it is the movie-like drama or the Hollywood hills venue, Super Bowl LVI is shaping up to be a box office entertainment.
The unlikely Cincinnati Bengals and favoured Los Angeles Rams will clash at SoFi Stadium to contest the biggest prize in the game on Sunday.
The two teams are led by a pair of very different protagonists in quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Matthew Stafford, both in how they play the game and their respective paths to a Super Bowl debut.
Burrow’s rise is well-documented. After failing to beat out the starting quarterback at Ohio State, the 25-year-old transferred to LSU where he experienced one of the greatest quarterback seasons in college football history.
A local boy, he was selected by the Bengals with the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, and was performing well until he tragically tore his ACL to abruptly end his rookie season.
However, he bounced back in 2021 to lead the Bengals to their first Super Bowl since 1988 despite the Bengals being considered rank outsiders.
Speaking for Betfair at Passyunk Avenue in London, Michael Carlson believes Cincinnati’s very own tiger king Burrow plays in a very similar manner to Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
Given the alarming rise of Burrow has coincided perfectly with Brady’s surprising retirement after 22 years, the parallels are there.
“The Bengals remind me of the Patriots in 2001, when they played the Rams in the Super Bowl against Kurt Warner and the Greatest Show on Turf,” Carlson exclusively told The Mirror.
“Burrow reminds me of Brady - not to say that he is as good, although he might even have a better arm than Brady did at that point.
“He’s got that same composure under pressure, that same look for the right option to put the ball in.
"When you watch them in the playoffs, that’s what it reminds me of which is why in the back of my mind, I keep thinking the Bengals have got a good chance of pulling off an upset in this game.
“The Bengals and Burrow have shown they can hold their nerve. That’s the similarity with Brady - they always think they have a chance to win the game.”
Cincinnati have ridden their underdog tag all the way to the playoffs, with Burrow becoming the first quarterback drafted first overall to reach the Super Bowl inside his first two seasons.
Stafford is at the other end of the spectrum; after 13 seasons, it has taken the former Lion longer than any other quarterback selected with the first overall pick to reach the Super Bowl.
It has been a long journey since he was picked first in the 2008 NFL Draft, but Stafford has finally made it to the big one.
Carlson admits that while the two quarterbacks have very different styles, their unique approach could define the outcome of the match. Stafford can be stubborn and over-reliant on his strong arm, while Burrow actually statistically performs better when facing the blitz - which isn’t supposed to happen - and Carlson thinks this difference could be key.
“It’s as if Burrow’s thought process speeds up, and that’s the difference between him and Stafford,” Carlson said. “Every game, Stafford makes a couple of really bad throws or bad decisions - once he's decided where he wants to go, he's focused on that and loses sight of other options.
"Stafford isn’t as reckless as someone like Brett Favre, but Burrow is smarter in certain situations whereas Stafford knows he has a really strong arm and he’s not afraid to use it.
“I look at it as an advantage to Cincinnati. I don't want to seem rude, but Stafford has the most wins of any quarterback in NFL history with a losing record.
"It says something about the teams he was on, but you look at so many games where Stafford hasn't quite been able to push them over the line in the fourth quarter.”
The NFC Championship proved to be a different story, as the Rams entered the fourth quarter down 10 points at home to the San Francisco 49ers.
Stafford relied on his bevy of stars as the likes of Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr came to the fore and impressed, with the quarterback leading another dramatic game-clinching drive.
Stafford was acquired in a blockbuster trade announced last January, with the quarterback leaving the Detroit Lions after 12 seasons in exchange two first-round picks and Jared Goff, who helped the Rams reach Super Bowl LIII.
Goff struggled to make any offensive impact against the New England Patriots three years ago, and head coach Sean McVay tried to re-invigorate his offence with Stafford.
Sunday’s clash is set to be career-defining for Stafford, who Carlson has never considered among the elite names in the NFL like Brady, Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers.
“I don’t think I ever had Stafford in the top five quarterbacks in the NFL at any point - but a win changes the way he gets perceived,” Carlson solemnly said. “With a Super Bowl win, all of a sudden you become a candidate for the Hall of Fame.
“If Stafford loses, the tag of ‘loser’ gets stuck with him and he will be remembered as a really good passer who was stuck on mediocre teams that he couldn't make better.”
The next chapter of NFL history gets written on Sunday, with a classic tale of the underdogs led by their confident, brash leader in Burrow taking on the favoured all-star cast of talent in the Los Angeles Rams headlined by their veteran quarterback Stafford.
Who does Carlson believe will come out on top? The 70-year-old has characteristically chosen wisely.
“It's a tough one,” Carlson conceded. “I can see a scenario where the Rams win big and I can see the Bengals winning but it would be tight.
"There’s an old unwritten law that if you pick the favourite and they win, nobody remembers. If you pick the underdog and they lose, nobody remembers.
“But if you pick the underdog and they win, everybody thinks you’re smart. The Rams are a better team, so that’s where I’m at right now - but I think in the end I'm going to pick the Bengals.”
For more from Mike Carlson, listen to Betfair's NFL Betting Only Bettor Podcast and follow his tips here.
