Super Bowl LVI is finally upon us as the NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams play the AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals. The Super Bowl will see two of the NFL’s best quarterbacks in veteran Matt Stafford and second-year man Joe Burrow squaring off.
Both the LA Rams and Cincinnati Bengals began their journeys to Super Bowl LVI as the No. 4 seed in their respective conference. Now, these teams play in the Super Bowl with two high-octane offenses going at it.
LA Rams are the bookies’ favorite
The LA Rams are favorites to win the Super Bowl according to nearly every sportsbook outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. All joking aside, the Rams are serious favorites despite Cincy’s play in the playoffs.
According to Bet365, the moneyline on the Rams is -200. Meanwhile, the Bengals are at the moneyline odds of +170.
One aspect that makes the Rams favorites to win the Super Bowl in the eyes of the bookies, other than playing stellar football, is the host stadium. The LA Rams will play at SoFi Stadium, the same venue in which the team went 5-3 during the regular season.
Surprisingly, the Rams were better on the road at 7-2. The Rams won twice at home during the NFC playoffs, however.
After smashing the Arizona Cardinals in the first round, 34-11, the Rams defeated reigning Super Bowl champs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 30-27 in Florida. The Rams returned to SoFi Stadium for the NFC Championship Game to defeat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17.
Of course, the Rams won’t have a completely one-sided crowd to cheer them on. Yet, it doesn’t hurt to play in your home city in the biggest NFL game of the season.
Cincinnati was 5-3 on the road in 2021-22. The Bengals played two of three playoff games on the road, winning in Nashville against the No. 1 seed Tennesee Titans 19-16 and in Kansas City against the No. 2 seed Chiefs, 27-24. The Bengals were down 21-3 at one point to the Chiefs before making an epic comeback.
LA Rams (-4.5)
The Rams were at Super Bowl odds of +1200 to win the 2022 Super Bowl at the start of the season. LA had the fourth-best odds behind Kansas City, Tampa Bay, and Buffalo.
The Rams started the season 7-1, but went on to finish the regular season at 12-5. starting the season 7-1. LA experienced a midseason slump with losses to Green Bay, Tennessee, and San Francisco.
Odell Beckham Jr and Von Miller have made tremendous impacts for the Rams. Their additions have been key to the team peaking at the right time. Remember, in a playoff system, you don’t have to be the best team over the course of the season, just the best team at the right time.
The Rams come out of a much stronger NFC. LA’s O-line allowed just 31 sacks, only five teams in the NFL allowed fewer sacks. Meanwhile, the team racked up 460 points (27.1 per game) and allowed 372 total points to opponents (21.9 per game).
Cincinnati Bengals (+4.5)
Read any major online publication this week and they are praising the Bengals to the heavens. Yet, had the Chiefs not folded like a bad suit in the AFC Championship Game, no one would be talking about the Bengals.
The offensive line has struggled to protect Joe Burrow at times this season and the defense has had question marks around it. The defense allowed an average of 22 points per game. Cincinnati’s O-line allowed 55 sacks, the third-most in the league behind the Chicago Bears’ 58 and Baltimore Ravens’ 57.
The Bengals entered the NFL season with +15000 odds to win the Super Bowl. Only Houston and Detroit had longer odds. Despite this, Cincinnati won the AFC North, which could be labeled as weak. The team suffered disappointing losses to the Jets and Bears. Had they not lost those two games, Cincinnati would have finished 12-5.
Zcode System pick for Super Bowl LVI
It is unlikely that the Bengals will be able to operate offensively as they did in the AFC playoffs. The Rams were third in most sacks this season with 50. Cincinnati’s defense recorded 42 sacks. However, as previously noted, Cincinnati allowed the third-most sacks to opponents.
The spread is -4.5 and with the way in which Cincinnati is playing, bookies seem confident the AFC champs can cover it. Cincinnati is 7-0 ATS in their last seven games.
Bookies have set the over/under at 48.5. Zcode System’s pick is to take the over. However, consider LA’s defense and Cincinnati’s porous O-line. You may want to take the under as the Rams could get pressure on Burrow and put him on his backside early and often, preventing the Bengals from scoring.
So, which team will win Super Bowl LVI? Zcode System is backing the LA Rams to win their second-ever Super Bowl and send Cincinnati for the third time in Super Bowl history.
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