Early Super Bowl LVI Storylines

Super Bowl LVI is now officially set with the Cincinnati Bengals taking on the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on February 13th.

It’s a matchup between two former first overall picks in Matt Stafford and Joe Burrow and features two first-time Super Bowl signal-callers for only the second time since 2012 when Colin Kaepernick and Joe Flacco made their title game debuts. In fact, since 2001, there have only been four Super Bowl matchups that included two quarterbacks that had yet to play in the big game. This is just one of many storylines heading into Super Bowl LVI.

Here are some of the early storylines:

Matt Stafford vs. Joe Burrow

It is the first time since 2012 that the Super Bowl didn’t include one of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or Patrick Mahomes under center. Instead, we get a pair of former first overall selections for only the second time in NFL history. The first matchup came just six years ago when Peyton Manning and the Broncos took on Cam Newton and the Panthers. The elder Manning walked away as the winner in that one.

The elder quarterback in this matchup, Matt Stafford, was selected number one overall in the 2011 NFL Draft and is in his first season with the Rams after spending the first 10 seasons with the Detroit Lions. On the other hand, Joe Burrow was selected by the Bengals first overall just one year ago during the 2020 NFL Draft. His rookie season was cut short due to a knee injury, however, Burrow led the team to their first postseason victory in 31 years and now has them in the Super Bowl for the third time in franchise history and the first time since 1988. Next up would be to capture that elusive first title for the franchise.

Home Team Super Bowl

In the first 54 installments of the Super Bowl, never did the host city have their team in the game. Now, in back-to-back seasons, we will see the host city’s team in the Super Bowl. A year ago, Tom Brady and the Buccaneers became the first team to play in a Super Bowl on their home field. They walked away with a 31-9 victory over the then-defending champion Chiefs in what was the most attended game all season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On February 13th, SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles will be packed. The only question is, how many of those fans, not including celebrities, will be Rams fans? Regardless, they will have an opportunity to celebrate on their own field and in their own locker room… a moment shared by just one other team in the history of the league.

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Sean McVay’s Growth

Three years ago, Sean McVay was star-struck when he met Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on the field prior to Super Bowl LIII. The Patriots won that game 13-3 but it felt like it was lost in that moment when McVay looked more like a fan than a head coach of the NFC Champion Rams. Fast-forward three years later and McVay is now the Super Bowl veteran coach getting another crack at his first title. And, no disrespect to Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, this time around, McVay doesn’t have Belichick staring from the opposite sideline. In addition to potentially winning his first Lombardi Trophy, whichever coach wins this game would become the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl, shattering the previous record set by Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin who was 49 when the Steelers won Super Bowl 43.