Sunday's conference championship games—each decided by a field goal—set up a most-surprising Super Bowl matchup between the Bengals and Rams. Cincinnati and Los Angeles were the No. 4 seeds in the AFC and NFC, respectively, setting up the first Super Bowl in history with both teams seeded fourth or lower.
The Bengals bested the defending AFC champion Chiefs, top-seeded Titans and Raiders en route to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1989. The Rams shrugged off a six-game losing streak to their division rival 49ers, beat Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in what was potentially his final game of his career and defeated the Cardinals to head to their second Super Bowl in four years.
Joe Burrow vs. Matt Stafford. Zac Taylor vs. Sean McVay. Ja'Marr Chase vs. Cooper Kupp. Building through the draft vs. building via trade? It's all on the line in two weeks. Let's review how we got here and look at the matchup set for SoFi Stadium on Feb. 13.
Super Bowl LVI is Set
Rams-Chiefs Opening Betting Odds
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
The Rams opened as 3.5-point favorites against the Bengals Sunday night while the celebration on the field—the same field on which the Super Bowl will be played—raged on. That line has already moved to L.A. -4 on SI Sportsbook. These teams most recently played in 2019 before Burrow was drafted and before the Stafford trade, among other key Rams acquisitions.
Storylines to Watch For: Connor Orr explains what it will take for each team to win and whose legacies are on the line. "On the heels of one of the greatest playoff tournaments in modern NFL history, in which five straight games were decided on the final play, and the Bengals became one of just two teams in playoff history to win an overtime game without winning the coin toss, we have a wholly unexpected Super Bowl," he writes.
Inside L.A.'s Quest Back to the Super Bowl: Greg Bishop goes behind the scenes with Von Miller and the Rams to tell the story of the speech that inspired the team to buck its losing streak to the 49ers and return to the sport's biggest stage.
The Cinderella Story Bengals: Cincinnati may be an underdog, but it certainly doesn't act like one. “At both levels of football, Joe Burrow has managed to truly stun and amaze us, to conjure a storybook run at a time when even believing that his team would be contenders would get you labeled a fool,” writes Orr.
Essential Reading
Retired or Not, Tom Brady is the Fantasy G.O.A.T.
Mark LoMoglio/AP
Amid reports about Brady's possible retirement, Michael Fabiano pays tribute to Brady's greatness as a fantasy stud. "The GOAT leaves the game as the highest-scoring player in the history of fantasy football with 5,672.7 points," Fabiano writes.
Bettor Wins Big on Title Game Scores: Bengals 27, Chiefs 24. Rams 20, 49ers 17. Who would've guessed? Apparently, one big winner turned $20 into more than half a million on a correct score bet.
Timeline of Brady's Retirement Report: From the initial ESPN report to Brady's father weighing in, get the hour-by-hour breakdown of a wild Saturday news cycle.
That's everything for today. Thanks for reading, and be sure to keep up with Winners Club as we approach the Super Bowl. I'll be back in your inbox Wednesday morning.