2022 Super Bowl: Everything to Know About the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals

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Sunday will be a meeting of the NFL’s best, with the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals facing off inSuper Bowl 56at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

On their path to the Super Bowl, each team survived several brutal playoff rounds that went down to the wire.

In the NFC, theRamseliminated the Arizona Cardinals in the Wild Card round, then knocked offTom Bradyand the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Then, to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl, they beat their longtime rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, ending a six-game losing streak to the Bay Area franchise.

Both the Bengals and Rams have faced (and overcome) adversity this season, which makes them tried and tested for what will likely be an exciting Super Bowl.

Here is what you should know before the Rams and Bengals take to the field their chance to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Both quarterbacks were former No. 1 overall draft picks.

This will be only the second time in Super Bowl history that two former quarterbacks picked at No. 1 will face each other in the Super Bowl, NBC Sports reported. The first time this occurred was at Super Bowl 50 when Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos beat Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers.

Super Bowl 56 will be the first Super Bowl appearance for both Stafford, 34, and Burrow, 25.

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The Rams are the second team ever to host a Super Bowl.

Going back to the first Super Bowl in 1967, no team had ever appeared in the championship game at their home stadium until last year, when the Buccaneers won the Lombardi Trophy at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida.

The Rams have now made it two teams in a row, as Super Bowl 56 will be held at their home stadium in Inglewood.

Rams safety Eric Weddle was in retirement before joining the team in January.

Rams safety Weddle retired from the NFL in 2019 and wascoaching his 12-year-old son’s football team. The 37-year-old has spent 12 years in the NFL, playing for the San Diego Chargers, Baltimore Ravens, and the Rams before initially walking away.

Then, after the Rams lost two of their starting safeties to injury, defensive coordinator Raheem Morris reached out to Weddle to see if he’d make a comeback, according to The Athletic. After speaking with his loved ones, Weddle agreed, and now he has a chance to win his first Super Bowl ring.

Burrow won the college National Championship just three years ago.

Burrow led Louisiana State University to victory over the Clemson Tigers at the 2020 National Championship game, which made him a star long before his first NFL snap.

Along with his championship season at LSU, Burrow was also named the winner of the Heisman Trophy. He was awarded the honor with a record 2,608 points and 841 first-place votes — which gave him90.7 percent of all first-place votes available.

After winning the Heisman in December, Burrow gave an emotional speech about his youth in Athens, Ohio.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty; Michael Hickey/Getty

“Coming from southeast Ohio, it’s a very impoverished area and the poverty rate is almost two times the national average,” Burrow saidduring his acceptance speechat the time. “There’s so many people there that don’t have a lot.”

“I’m up here for all those kids in Athens and Athens county that go home to not a lot of food on the table, hungry after school. You guys can be up here, too,” he added.

Bengals Coach Zac Taylor was once Rams coach Sean McVay’s assistant.

Taylor, 38, worked under McVay, 36, as an assistant wide receivers coach, then a quarterbacks coach, during his two years with the Rams from 2017 to 2018.

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The Bengals haven’t been to a Super Bowl in more than 30 years.

The Bengals are one of 12 NFL teams that have never won a Super Bowl, according toCBS Sports. Their last appearance in the game was 33 years ago when they lost to the 49ers at Super Bowl 23. They also lost to the 49ers at Super Bowl 16.

Los Angeles, meanwhile, came up short in their last Super Bowl appearance in 2019, losing to the New England Patriots. They also fell to the Patriots in 2002.

The Rams' only Super Bowl win came in 2000 when they beat the Tennessee Titans 23-16.

source: people.com