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The 2021 NFL season will come to a close with Super Bowl 56 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Sunday, February 13th. Both QBs who were in the Super Bowl last year won’t be back this time around. The Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship 27-24 in overtime on Sunday afternoon. Joe Burrow leads the Bengals to the Super Bowl in just his second season.
The Los Angeles Rams pulled out a 20-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship to advance to the Super Bowl for the second time in the past four seasons. The Rams lost to the New England Patriots 13-3 in Super Bowl 53. Los Angeles had lost to San Fran twice during the regular season.
Bengals vs. Rams
It’s been fun watching this Bengals team all season. To put it simply, the Bengals are here because of Burrow and rookie WR Ja’Marr Chase, both LSU products lighting it up in the NFL. The Bengals had a rollercoaster of a season with plenty of ups and downs. Cincy never completely faltered though, never losing more than two games in a row.
The Bengals finished 10-7 and are the No. 4 seed in the postseason. Cincinnati beat the Las Vegas Raiders in the Wild Card round 26-19 before knocking off the 1-seed Tennessee Titans in the Divisional round 19-16. A 27-24 OT victory over the Chiefs and the Bengals booked a trip to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1989, when they lost to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Rams made it to the Super Bowl on the back of Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp on offense while getting another career season out of defensive star Aaron Donald. Los Angeles’ roster is riddled with high-profile players, mostly acquired via trade. The Rams sort of put together a dream team of sorts similar to what that Eagles team thought it had back in the day.
L.A. finished 12-5 on the season and won the NFC West division title over the Arizona Cardinals, a team they defeated 34-11 in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The Rams went on to knock off Tom Brady and the defending champs 30-27 last week to reach the NFC Championship. Los Angeles was able to hold on and narrowly defeat the Niners 20-17 to reach the Super Bowl again. This is the fifth time the Rams have reached the Super Bowl as a franchise. It’s the third as the Los Angeles Rams — two appearances were while in St. Louis.