Super Bowl LVI: Our staff is completely split on who wins

The Seattle Seahawks sadly won’t be playing in Super Bowl LVI but hopefully next season Seattle can bounce back and make the big game. Seattle still has a talented roster and has enough cap space to add more talent. And the team is making needed defensive coaching changes that should help in 2022.

But guess who doesn’t need to improve their roster this year? Super Bowl LVI foes the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Rams have been good for a few years now and feature Aaron Donald and Matthew Stafford. The Bengals have a very young nucleus on offense but also tons of talent and Cincinnati might just be young enough to not feel the pressure of playing in the Super Bowl.

WynnBet currently has the Rams favored by -4 which means they expect a close game. As they should, this entire playoff season has featured games that have come down to literally the final seconds of many contests. Who would expect Super Bowl LVI to be any different?

Staff predictions for Super Bowl LVI

The difference in the game could come down to which defense plays better against the multi-skilled offenses. While it may seem like the Rams have a much better defense, that isn’t truly the case. Los Angeles was 16th in the NFL in points allowed at 21.9, the Bengals were 17th at 22.1.

Los Angeles allowed 4 yards a carry (7th overall) but 18 rushing touchdowns. Cincinnati allowed 4.3 yards a carry (16th) but 15 rushing touchdowns. The Rams had 50 sacks and 95 quarterback hits. Cincinnati had 42 sacks but 99 quarterback hits. The two defenses are closer in quality than one might think.

So who is going to win Super Bowl LVI? This is what our staff thinks.

Geoff Schull: Rams 31 Bengals 24

Todd Vandenberg: Bengals 27 Rams 23

Jake Luppino: Bengals 24 Rams 21

Carson Schroer: Rams 27 Bengals 20

Andrew Bailie: Bengals 24 Rams 21 (Evan McPherson kicks a long field goal to win the game.)

Max Downard: Rams 28 Bengals 24

Lee Vowell: Rams 28 Bengals 24