BY: Milton Westry
In less than two weeks, Super Bowl LVI will take place. The date of the Super Bowl is February 13, 2022, at 5:30 p.m. CT. The teams that will be playing are the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams, and the game will be played in Los Angeles, California. The halftime performance will feature Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige. This year’s Super Bowl was unexpected, as many people didn’t predict that these two teams would be competing for a title for their franchise because of their seeding coming into the playoffs. This Super Bowl will be the lowest-seeded matchup in NFL history. Both teams faced a tough road to get to the Super Bowl and had to play in Wild Card games. The games that took place during the past couple of weeks were very close and competitive.
The Cincinnati Bengals is the most surprising team. Led by a second-year quarterback in Joe Burrows, they took down three tough opponents. They beat the Raiders in the first round by a touchdown of 26-19. They later beat the number one team in the AFC, the Tennessee Titans, by a field goal, 19-16. Last Sunday, they came back from a 21-point deficit to beat the reigning AFC champions the Kansas City Chiefs 24-21. The Los Angeles Rams had a similar road to making it to the Super Bowl, led by quarterback Matthew Stafford. The Rams blew past their division rivals the Arizona Cardinals in the first round 34-11. They beat the reigning Super Bowl champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30-27. They came back from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17.
For the Bengals, it is their first Super Bowl appearance since 1989, ending a 22-year drought. As for the Rams, it is their second appearance in two years, as they faced the New England Patriots in 2019. It is going to be very interesting to see how this game unfolds. Many people believe that the Rams are the favorites to win the Super Bowl. Even though the game is meant to be played on a neutral site, the Rams have a home-field advantage, as the game will be played in their own stadium. This is the second straight year that the Super Bowl features a team playing on their own turf.