Super Bowl 2022: All signs point to Rams enjoying a Hollywood ending
Rams head coach Sean McVay watches warm ups before the NFC Championship Game against the 49ers on Jan. 30 in Inglewood, Calif. Credit: AP/Mark J. Terrill
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – They couldn’t even sell out that first Super Bowl all those LV years ago. In fact, it wasn’t even called the Super Bowl.
No, when legendary coach Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers beat Kansas City, 35-10, on Jan. 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, nearly a third of the 94,000-seat stadium was empty. And it would be months before the AFL-NFL World Championship Game would be known as the Super Bowl, named after the "Super Ball" toy that Kansas City owner Lamar Hunt’s kids tossed around.
Tickets went for $12, which was considered outrageously expensive at the time, and the game was blacked out on local television. Broadcast tapes of the matchup featuring the NFL and AFL champions were wiped by NBC and CBS, both of which broadcast the game, as a way to cut costs and a clear indication that no one had any idea what the game would turn into.
And here we are, just over half a century later, and the Super Bowl is back in Los Angeles, only this time with all the glitz, hype and attention that only the country’s biggest sport can provide. SoFi Stadium, the most impressive architectural venue in North American sports, will host the hometown Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals for the chance to win pro football’s biggest prize, whose victorious silver chalice is now named after the man who help catapult the game to its current state. The winner of the Vince Lombardi Trophy will get to hoist it aloft beneath a canopy of confetti inside the priciest and fanciest stadium in the land – a $4 billion backdrop for the most watched sporting event on the continent.
It will be the Rams, who made it to the Big Show in large part because of their daring trade for Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, against the Bengals, who haven’t been to a Super Bowl since Boomer Esiason produced his most magical season in 1988 but who got here thanks to their swashbuckling quarterback, Joe Burrow.
It’s Sean McVay, the 36-year-old wunderkind coach who has made it to his second Super Bowl in four years, against his one-time assistant Zac Taylor, the 38-year-old coach who suffered through two losing seasons before striking it rich behind Burrow, rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and an underrated defense.
It is a terrific matchup between two compelling teams. The Rams have pushed all their chips to the middle of the table, surrendering a slew of high draft picks for the likes of Stafford, cornerback Jalen Ramsey and pass rusher Von Miller in a go-for-broke mode we have rarely seen in the NFL. The Rams have defied conventional wisdom, which says the best path to the top is through smart drafting and a smart tactical use of free agency, by selling out for the here-and-now. Look no further than their late-season acquisition of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who had forced his way out of Cleveland to join a Rams team desperate for his help behind All Pro wideout Cooper Kupp. Throw in star defensive lineman Aaron Donald, arguably the greatest defensive player of his generation, and here they are.
The Bengals have gotten here in the more traditional way, gaining the rights to the first overall pick in 2020 and adding Burrow to a team that is mostly homegrown through the draft and has been judicious in adding free agent talent like pass rusher Trey Hendrickson. The Bengals have their "Triplets" in Burrow, running back Joe Mixon and rookie phenom receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who has given his team a receiving threat unlike any they’ve ever known.
The Rams hope that Stafford will be the missing piece that gets them over the top.
"What he's done, he's elevated everybody around him," McVay said. "He's made me a better coach. He's made his teammates better. He's such a great person."
Burrow, meanwhile, is part of a wonderful group of young quarterbacks now dominating the league.
"I’m chasing Aaron Rodgers to try to be the best," Burrow said during his final day of Super Bowl media interviews on Friday. "He’s been doing it for a long time."
Burrow is now one step away from equaling Rodgers’ Super Bowl victory total. Yet he is careful not to place too much emphasis on history.
"I try not to think about that kind of stuff because I think if you go down that road, you start worrying about the wrong things," Burrow said. "So, I've tried to stay focused on the job at hand."
Burrow probably wins the favorability race in this game, what with his swagger and youthful enthusiasm, although Stafford is certainly a sentimental choice given his trials with the woebegone Lions. But strictly from a matchup standpoint, this one favors the Rams.
And here’s where the difference lies, as far as I’m concerned: The Rams’ defensive front is arguably the best in the game, with Donald applying pressure up the middle and Miller from the outside. And while the Bengals managed to survive against the Titans, who sacked Burrow nine times, it’s hard to see him overcome that kind of pass rush a second time.
Where the Titans couldn’t cover Chase, the Rams have a bigger advantage with Jalen Ramsey, who is a superior cover corner. Take away Burrow’s favorite target, and this one gets very, very tough.
Stafford, meanwhile, is playing the best football of his career. He has only one interception in three playoff games, Kupp and Beckham are exceptional receivers – especially Kupp, who is coming off one of the greatest single-season receiving performances ever – and Stafford should get adequate protection against a very good Bengals’ defensive line.
Would it be ridiculous to see Burrow pull off a shocker? Of course not. The kid’s that good.
But all things considered, the matchups favor the Rams on both sides of the ball, and they’re the ones with the best shot at celebrating the championship on their home field.
Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”
