At the start of the season, even the most ardent Bengals fan would have raised an eyebrow at the idea of their team making it to the Super Bowl. The last time Cincinnati could celebrate any kind of win in the playoffs was in 1991, before most of the current players were born. It has been a season of great shocks for a franchise once nicknamed “the Bungles” because they lost so many games.
Through to the Wild Card Round thanks to a 4th place ranking in the AFC, the Bengals dispatched the Las Vegas Raiders to end their 31-year drought of playoff wins. Next up was a trip to Nashville to face the conference top seed, the Tennessee Titans – with the Bengals never having won a playoff game on the road in the history of the franchise. In a wild upset, Cincinnati won 19-16. They followed this odds-defying victory with another in the AFC Championship game, coming back from 18 points down to beat the Kansas City Chiefs with a field goal in overtime. No Bengals fan could complain if this is as far as it goes, but with a first ever Super Bowl in touching distance, Cincinnati is dreaming big.
The Los Angeles Rams will be working from home on Super Bowl night, as the biggest game in American football comes to their stadium in Inglewood. The Rams have won the Championship title just once while representing the City of Angels, but the franchise has 2 other wins to its name from seasons based in Cleveland and St. Louis. In 2019, the Rams won the NFC but had their Super Bowl hopes crushed by Tom Brady’s New England Patriots. Can they rewrite the script in 2022?
The team had a strong start to the playoffs, making short work of the Arizona Cardinals in the Wild Card Round. The Divisional Round was a trickier matter, as the Rams faced their old enemy Tom Brady with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs had been a favourite for the Super Bowl since preseason, but the Rams took an early lead and held off a late surge from Tampa, seeing out the game 30-27 with a field goal in the final seconds. They won by the same margin in the NFC Championship game, defeating California rivals the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 to set up their clash with the Bengals.
The Super Bowl is one of the hottest tickets in sports, so expect to splash out if you want to book your seat in the SoFi Stadium on 13 February. Ticket packages are available from USD $5 ,950, but you will get more than just a football game for your money. Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, and Kendrick Lamar are all booked in to perform at this year’s spectacular half time show.
What are you waiting for? Be part of one of the biggest sporting events of the year and get your tickets for Super Bowl LVI now!
