NFL 2021: Five Key Statistics for Super Bowl LVI

The NFL season that saw 272 regular-season contests and 12 more playoff clashes is now down to one game. The Los Angeles Rams are looking for their first Super Bowl title since 1999. The Cincinnati Bengals are playing on Super Sunday for the first time since the 1988 season and are looking to their first Lombardi Trophy. It figures to be an entertaining afternoon at SoFi Stadium.

20

The Cincinnati Bengals are not strangers to the Super Bowl. The team made their first appearance in 1981 (XVI) and returned seven years later (1988). This year, Zac Taylor’s club won the AFC North with a 10-7 record just one season after finishing 4-11-1 while being the only team in the division not to reach the playoffs. All told, 20 different NFL franchises have hoisted the Lombardi Trophy at least once and the Bengals look to add to that list.

2

It’s been well-documented that no player has ever led the NFL and pro football (1966-69) in passing yardage and won a Super Bowl ring the same season. It is not as well known that only two performers in league annals have thrown at least 40 TD passes in a season and won on Super Sunday. The first was the Rams’ Kurt Warner (1999) and a year ago it was Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady. Rams’ quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 41 scores in 2021.

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34

It’s the number of different head coaches to win a Super Bowl. And be it the Rams’ Sean McVay or the Bengals’ Zac Taylor, that figure will increase to 35. Bill Belichick leads the way with six titles – all with the Patriots. Next in line is Pittsburgh Steelers’ legend Chuck Noll, who led his team to four Super Bowl wins in a six-year span. And rounding out the Top 4 are Hall of Famers Bill Walsh (49ers) and Joe Gibbs (Washington) with three Lombardi Trophies each.

31

There have been 55 Super Bowls played and 31 times, the quarterback has been named the game’s Most Valuable Player. It’s pretty rare when a defensive player manages to garner MVP on Super Sunday. It’s happened only nine times by linebackers (4), defensive backs (3) and defensive linemen (2). The last defender to win Super Bowl MVP honors was then-Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller (Super Bowl 50), who is now with Sean McVay’s Rams.

101

It is an astounding number and the key to success when it comes to Super Bowl Sunday. Teams that commit the fewest turnovers in this game own a 38-5 record. But it’s the raw figures that are a bit mind-blowing. The 55 Super Bowl champions have committed a combined 62 turnovers in victory. And seven of those came in the Colts’ win over the Cowboys in Super Bowl V. As for the losers, an astounding 163 turnovers. That’s plus-101 for the victors.