The Super Bowl is only a few days away, and more and more people are locking in their bets. The current spread sits at Rams -4 at most locations, fluctuating half a point in either direction in some cases. If you are one of the people who plans on laying a bet against the spread, which can be done more and more places now, including
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The Bengals defense faced its toughest task of the season. The high-flying Kansas City offense was deemed to be unstoppable once the Chiefs got and stayed above .500 on the season. They were rolling through their competition and putting up the kinds of points and stats numbers that fans have come to expect during their mini-dynasty.
Cincinnati derailed that train twice in one month. They fell in a 14-point hole at two different points in their Week 17 matchup at home against the Chiefs. The defense managed to step up and scheme ways to make their offense look pedestrian, holding them to just three points in the second half.
In the AFC Championship Game, all looked lost as the Bengals were down 21-3, and then 21-10 as the Chiefs sat on their own one-yard line with five seconds to play. Mahomes and Kansas City got greedy, and came up short of the end zone as Eli Apple and Trey Hendrickson combined to make what might have been a game-saving tackle. They, then, held the Chiefs to only three points in the second half again. In overtime, they picked off Mahomes to set up the game-winning drive.
This Cincinnati defense is very much not afraid of Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham if they can handle Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce twice in January. Plus, they have a nose for turning the football over in the playoffs, which is something that the Rams did four times in the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Bengals’ defense will find ways to get their offense back on the field in this game. They can absolutely keep it close, if not win the battle more often, just based on what we’ve seen in the playoffs.
Here comes the phase of the game where most think the four-point spread will be born, though. The Rams have a decided advantage when it comes to the offensive vs. defensive line matchups. Cincinnati has arguably the worst offensive line of all 14 playoff teams, and the Rams front is probably the best in all of football.
Make no mistake, Joe Burrow will be pressured in this game. He will most likely be sacked five or more times as Aaron Donald, Von Miller, Leonard Floyd and company barrel through the thin right side of the Bengals’ offensive line. What people are missing, though, when they say this matchup will decide the game is how little that might matter.
Burrow has cultivated a sort of enigmatic cool throughout these playoffs. His outfits, his demeanor and his clutch play have catapulted him into the hearts of many a football fan. That kind of cool starts on the field, with an inability to be rattled.
He was sacked nine times in the Divisional Round against the Titans. He was unfazed and delivered a game-winning drive. The deficit stood at 18 points in the AFC Championship Game, and the Bengals lost the overtime coin toss. Once they got the ball back, none of that seemed to matter.
In short, Burrow is not bothered by getting knocked down, and throws well under pressure. If the Rams really do intend to pressure him for the entire game, it will become old hat, and Burrow will settle into short gainers that their wide receivers can turn into touchdowns. Let us also not forget that he was the most sacked quarterback in football during the regular season, taking 51 sacks. None of what Donald and Miller bring will be new to him, because a quarterback hurry is a quarterback hurry.
The pass rush will not upset this offense as much as casual fans think it will. And, if it doesn’t, and Rams’ coach Sean McVay is forced to drop more into coverage, Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase can pick that apart with ease.
Featured image courtesy of Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
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