The Rams were not the Cinderella team like the Bengals.  They were given 15-1 odds which was the ninth-best odds in the NFL. On paper, the Rams seemed like one of the best teams in the NFL. They have some of the league’s biggest stars such as Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, Matthew Stafford, and many other stars of the league.

The Rams finished the regular season with a record of 12-5 and a fourth-place finish in the NFC. Which set them up for a Wild Card matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.

The Rams absolutely dominated the Cardinals in this Wild Card matchup. With the Rams taking a commanding 21-0 lead at the half, the Cardinals had absolutely no chance of coming back in this game. The final score of this game was Rams 34 Cardinals 11. Next up was an away game in the Divisional Round against the defending Super Bowl Champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Rams seemed to start to dominate this game until the end of the fourth quarter with 3:20 remaining. When Tom Brady threw a 55-yard pass to make it a one-score game when the Buccaneers had been trailing by two scores since the beginning of the second quarter.

Still, all the Rams had to do after that though was run for two first downs to seal the game. But Rams RB Cam Akers fumbled the ball on the second play of the drive giving the Buccaneers a chance to tie the game up. Of course, when you are playing against possibly the greatest QB of all time, he is going to lead his team to get that game-tying TD. He did exactly that by driving the Buccaneers downfield and capping off the drive with a 1-yard Leonard Fournette TD run. Only 42 seconds remained.

When it all started to look dark for the Rams and the Buccaneers looked like they were going to somehow come back, the Rams put their feet down. Stafford threw a perfect ball to Cooper Kupp to get the Rams in field goal range to win the game. Rams kicker Matt Gay ultimately hit the 30-yard field goal. The final score of this game was Rams 30 Buccaneers 27. Next up for the Rams was a home game against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game.

The Rams started this game different than their other games with it being close throughout until the 49ers got out to a 10-point lead at the end of the fourth quarter. Then the Rams started to slowly come back in the fourth quarter with a Stafford to Kupp TD with 13:30 remaining in the game making it a three-point game. Then the Rams got the ball back again after a quick stop by the defense.

This drive is where the game really started to shift. On this drive, Stafford threw a deep ball for Van Jefferson but it was way off of the mark and was right into the hands of 49ers safety Jaquiski Tartt. But Tartt dropped this pass and allowed the Rams to ultimately get a field goal to tie the game up. If Tartt were to make that play, we would most likely have seen the 49ers in Super Bowl LVI.

The Rams then got another stop, regained possession and made another field goal. Causing the Rams to have a three-point lead with 1:46 to go. The 49ers’ last possession ultimately went bad with Aaron Donald wreaking havoc like he always does. This caused Jimmy Garoppolo to throw an interception to Travin Howard making the Rams win. The final score Rams 20 49ers 17. Next up is Super Bowl LVI in their home stadium (SoFi) against the Bengals.

The Bengals were given the fifth-best odds to win the Super Bowl and they are now only one game away from beating those odds. They were also predicted to finish last in the AFC North and they beat those odds during the season. These Bengals are the definition of a Cinderella team.

The Bengals finished the regular season with a record of 10-7 and a fourth-place finish in the AFC. This set them up for a Wildcard matchup at home against the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Bengals led this game from the 4:31 mark to the end. But that didn’t stop this game from being a nail-bitter for Bengals fans. Derek Carr and the Raiders lead a drive all the way to the Bengals’ nine-yard line, but he was intercepted by Bengals’ LB Germain Pratt to clinch the Wild Card win for the Bengals. The final score of this game was Bengals 26 Raiders 19. Next up was an away game in the Divisional Round against the Tennessee Titans.

The Bengals kept their nail-bitter status going on for this game against the Titans. The Bengals controlled this entire game with never being behind the Titans. The game was tied for nearly the entire fourth quarter until Bengals’ rookie kicker Evan McPherson kicked the game-winning 52-yard field goal. The final score of this game was Bengals 19 Titans 16. Next up was an away game in the AFC Championship against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Bengals did not control this entire game with the Chiefs taking an early 18-point lead in the second quarter. The Bengals did not bat an eye to this early Chiefs lead because the same thing happened to the Bengals in Week 17.

Bengals QB Joe Burrow and WR Jamar Chase helped lead the Bengals offense to tie the game back up. The Bengals defense also helped this comeback happen with them not allowing any TDs after the first half. This all caused the Bengals to force overtime.

In overtime, the Chiefs won the coin toss which, in the playoffs, has been a death sentence for the other team. With them having a record an overtime record of 2-10, the Bengals still did not bat an eye at this with Jesse Bates III tipping the ball to Vonn Bell forcing a Patrick Mahomes interception.  Now all the Bengals needed to do was make a field goal to win the game. The Bengals did exactly that with McPherson making a 31-yard field goal to send the Bengals to the Super Bowl. The final score of this game was Bengals 27 Chiefs 24. Next up, Super Bowl LVI against the Rams.