Super Bowl 2022: Rams find recipe for success but are Bengals built better for the future?
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The Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 to win their second Super Bowl on Sunday night as their LA story had a glorious ending inside their own wonderful new SoFi Stadium.
A team built for instant success with star-studded names delivered the goods against the young Bengals, but have the Rams shown a new blueprint for NFL success? Is their way sustainable and will we see teams trying to replicate their plan around the league?
Those are just some of the talking points to emerge from a glittering finale to a stunning NFL season.
Gamble pays off as Rams win now
Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke is not known for his gung-ho approach with the Gunners, but with the Rams he's overseen a move back to LA from St Louis, the building of a $5bn stadium to host the Super Bowl and the construction of a talented squad to win it.
The Rams last had a first-round draft pick in 2016 and are not due another until 2024 after trading them away to bring in the likes of quarterback Matthew Stafford to win a Super Bowl, and it's paid off right away.
Odell Beckham Jr of the Los Angeles Rams scores a touchdown at Super Bowl 2022
Big players step up in big moments and Stafford certainly delivered where predecessor Jared Goff could not, and although critics will say this success is not sustainable, the Rams will not care as they've got the Lombardi Trophy to prove their plan succeeded.
The NFL is a cyclical business and good teams have their 'Super Bowl window' before fading away, so although 34-year-old Stafford is unlikely to enjoy more than a few years of glory in LA, people only remember winners, and this win will be in the history books forever.
Why teams are unlikely to copy Rams' recipe
The NFL is a copycat league but not too many teams will be preparing to offload their draft picks and push their salary cap space to accommodate expensive big-name signings, even though it's worked for LA.
For starters, a lot of NFL owners are a bit more cautious and when the Rams are stuck with an ageing squad on expensive wages with little salary cap room, there won't be much sympathy from around the league.
Along with Stafford, fellow new signing Von Miller is 32 while 29-year-old Odell Beckham Jr looks seriously injured again. At some stage tough decisions need to be made.
Most importantly, look beyond the 'all star' headlines and take a look who made the big plays that won the Rams the Super Bowl - MVP receiver Cooper Kupp and defensive giant Aaron Donald, both of whom came to the team via the draft.
Donald could be the best defensive player ever, while Kupp just had one of the best receiving seasons in history. Adding stars helps, but these two draft picks would give any team a chance, and the rest of the NFL knows it.
You have to take big risks to get big rewards in sport, and the Los Angeles Rams got the biggest reward possible in the NFL after taking a sizeable gamble on success.
Bengals well placed for future glory but need to protect Burrow
In Ja'Marr Chase the Begals possess one of the brightest young talents in the NFL
There's an element of luck in the draft, and the Bengals were lucky enough to have Joe Burrow drop into their laps after being the worst team in the league - now they must go all-out to protect him and let him fire them to glory.
Let's not forget, Burrow has just had his first full season under his belt, receiver Ja'Marr Chase was a rookie and the average age of this squad was 26. The future is bright for the Bengals if they play it right.
And although their success has come from the draft, that also means spending some money in free agency, as they did last year to beef-up their defence with Trey Hendrickson, Mike Hilton and Chidobe Awuzie among others.
The plus side is they know exactly where their weakness is, and that's an offensive line that let Burrow get sacked 70 times in the season, including 19 in the play-offs with seven of them in the Super Bowl.
Teams that have given up at least six sacks in the Super Bowl are now 0-7. More importantly, Burrow suffered a knee injury and he's already had a serious knee problem - the team simply have to protect him or risk losing potentially their biggest ever star player.
Working in their favour is they've never been a more attractive destination for a new signing.
They never have and probably never will be a glamour outfit to rival LA or New York, but a young coach in Zac Taylor and young squad led by 'Joe Cool' at QB makes them a team players will want to play for.
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Aaron Donald's sack on Joe Burrow in the final minute confirmed the Rams as Super Bowl champions
Kupp was named the game's MVP to cap an incredible fifth season in the league after being picked in the third round of the draft by the Rams. He finished with 33 catches, 478 yards and six touchdowns in four play-off games this season.
He scored two Rams touchdowns but beyond the stats his all-around game was magnificent, as he blocked, he ran, he even threw the ball once!
And once Beckham was out injured, everybody knew Stafford would target Kupp on the final drive, and the Bengals still could not stop him.
On the other side of the ball, Donald wrecked the game as many thought he would, bullying the Bengals and harassing Burrow all night. It was fitting he had the final say with a sack but could that be his final play in the NFL?
There are suggestions the 30-year-old may call it a day after now winning everything in the game and his departure would be a hammer blow for the Rams.
There were plenty of question marks over Stafford's big-game nerve even after coming up trumps in back-to-back play-off games, and in the biggest game of all, with all the pressure on him to deliver he really stepped up, led the game-winning drive and cemented his legacy.
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For the Bengals, Burrow can hold his head up high at performing well despite being under pressure all night, and rookie Chase produced some huge plays against Jalen Ramsey. Both of these star Bengals have a bright future.
Who is more likely to be back in Super Bowl 57?
The Rams are crowned Super Bowl 56 champions
In the short term both of these sides will be well-fancied for another deep run at the Super Bowl.
The Stafford-Kupp and Burrow-Chase combinations will keep both teams in contention - and as long as Donald comes back then the Rams' defence will be fierce.
The Bengals were a surprise, but the way they played was no one-off, their defence improved down the stretch and there's plenty of improvement left in them with an upgrade in their QB protection and with Burrow and Chase having their first full NFL season together.
If you had to pick one, though, it'd be the Rams, mainly due to them playing in an NFC that has seen Tom Brady retire, question marks raised over Aaron Rodgers and no other real superstars to challenge them.
Burrow and the Bengals may well improve but the AFC looks like a brutal path back to the Super Bowl, with superstar QBs leading the way such as Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert among others. Beating one, two or even three of those in the play-offs is some task.
The 2022 season is already shaping up to be another blockbuster.
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