Rams vs. Bengals: Historic Head-to-Head Record and Super Bowl 56 Pick
The rosters of the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams look much different for Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13 than they did in their most recent regular-season meeting in 2019.
At that point, Zac Taylor did not have his first victory as Cincinnati head coach. He went 2-14 in his first season, and that led to the franchise selecting quarterback Joe Burrow with the first overall pick of the 2020 NFL draft.
Andy Dalton was the Bengals' quarterback in the Week 8 loss from the 2019 season. The Rams won that contest behind 372 passing yards from Jared Goff.
Matthew Stafford is now in charge of the Rams offense, and he is hoping to achieve better success in the Super Bowl than Goff had in Super Bowl LIII.
Stafford has only faced the Bengals three times in his career, and his most recent appearance versus the AFC North franchise came in 2017 while he was with the Detroit Lions.
The unfamiliarity in the first-time Super Bowl matchup might be a welcome sight to some since either Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes or both appeared in the past five NFL championship tilts.
The Bengals own an 8-6 record over the Rams franchise.
The first meeting between the two sides occurred in 1972, and they have met eight times while the Rams have been in Los Angeles. The Rams were based in St. Louis for the other six contests.
The franchises have not met on American soil since 2015, with the most recent head-to-head clash taking place in London.
Joe Mixon and Cooper Kupp are the only key holdovers on offense from that contest who will participate in the Super Bowl inside SoFi Stadium. Kupp produced the best single-game receiving-yard total of his career in that Week 8 clash back in 2019. He caught seven balls on 10 targets for 220 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Kupp will be targeted at a high rate by Matthew Stafford in the Super Bowl, but he will have a much tougher time reaching a high yardage total this time around. Cincinnati's defense, like its entire squad, has drastically improved in the two years since its last clash with the Rams.
The Bengals managed just 10 points in that defeat. Four of the past five losing scores in Bengals-Rams games were 10 points or lower. That may not be the case Sunday since both teams have fantastic offenses, led by Stafford and Burrow.
The Bengals and Rams do not face each other often, but there is some familiarity with the styles of play because of the connection between the coaching staffs.
Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor was the quarterbacks coach on Sean McVay's Rams staff in 2018. So both teams should be familiar with some of the offensive concepts their opponents employ, but that might not make a major difference.
The Rams' interior pressure and depth at wide receiver could be the difference-makers inside SoFi Stadium. Los Angeles' combination of Aaron Donald, Leonard Floyd and Von Miller could hurt the Cincinnati offensive line, which conceded nine sacks to the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round.
The NFC champion should look to put Joe Burrow under pressure from the first snap to make the second-year quarterback uncomfortable in the pocket. The Rams may also be able to take away Ja'Marr Chase in some instances. That could force Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins and others to step up for most of the game.
If the Bengals try to take away Kupp, Stafford can turn to Odell Beckham Jr. to hurt the AFC champion's secondary. Kupp and Beckham both had 100-yard performances in the NFC Championship Game.
The Rams built up their depth with Beckham and Miller through midseason acquisitions, and they could play difference-making roles in the Super Bowl.
As long as the Rams get pressure on Burrow and the offensive depth shows as it did against the San Francisco 49ers, they should come away with a win inside their home stadium.
