The stage of Super Bowl LVI, the 56th edition of the NFL’s annual championship game got its contestants this Sunday night, as the finalists Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams secured their entries with winning their respective Conference Championship matches. The Bengals defeated Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 to win the AFC championship, while the Rams won the NFC counterpart following a 20-17 thrashing of San Francisco 49ers.
Interestingly, Super Bowl LVI will mark several new milestones. The Bengals vs Rams matchup, set to take place from two weeks time, on 13th February at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the home stadium of the Rams, making it the second consecutive Super Bowl to feature a team playing in their home turf, as Super Bowl LV took place at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, home of the last year champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
On top of that, Rams will be aiming at their second Super Bowl championship, and the first as a Los Angeles based team, as they were based on St Louis when they won Super Bowl XXXIV back in 1999. On the other hand, its the Bengals’ first shot at the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
However, another aspect of Super Bowl LVI which makes it more interesting, or less interesting technically, is that the Bengals vs Rams game is the lowest-seeded matchup in the history. Both Bengals and Rams entered the postseason as No. 4 seeds and for the first time ever, two 4th seeded teams entering postseason have made it to the final, making a combined seed total of eight.
Since Super Bowl X when playoff seeding began, no Super Bowl so far has not featured any team that was not seeded first, second, or third. While the Super Bowl XLV featuring Packers against Steelers had a combined seed total of eight as well, the Steelers were No. 2 seed of that season.
Moreover, Super Bowl LVI is also featuring the most combined losses – twelve, with Bengals and Rams having lost seven and five times respectively. Previously, the highest combined losses at a Super Bowl was eleven- featured at the Super Bowl XIV between Rams and Steelers in 1980 and also at the Super Bowl XLIII between Cardinals and Steelers in 2009.
Highlights:
- Super Bowl LVI is featuring Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, both who entered the postseason as No. 4 seeds- a first in the history of Super Bowl
- Bengals defeated Chiefs 27-24 and the Rams beat 49ers 20-17 to secure their Super Bowl LVI berths
