Super Bowl 56: Early pick, score prediction for Bengals vs. Rams

What to expect from Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl 56

If you’ve watched any bit of Bengals football over the last few weeks, then you know they’re going to live and die by the arm of Joe Burrow. Cincinnati’s fearless leader will be charged with winning this one, and whether or not that happens will depend largely on his play.

I don’t see the Rams struggling to put points on the board, which means the Bengals will have to do plenty of scoring of their own to keep this one within reach. That would require Burrow playing some of his best football of the year, connecting with his top targets like Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins early and often.

Don’t count out the run game, though. The Bengals didn’t abandon the run during the AFC Championship when the going got rough, and they likely won’t do that now. Expect to see a hearty helping of Joe Mixon on Sunday as Cincinnati looks to control the clock and keep the ball out of Matthew Stafford‘s hands.

Either way, I don’t see the Bengals having a hard time finding the end zone.

The problem will be how often they allow the Rams to find it as well. A big part of this game for Cincinnati will be turning up the pressure on Stafford, bottling up the ground game, and simply getting the Los Angeles offense off the field. Slowing Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. will certainly be no easy task.

We know Burrow, Chase, and Co. will produce. So it’s up to the Cincinnati defense to not dig too deep a hole. Whether or not they’re up to the challenge — we’ll see what happens on Sunday.