Neither Super Bowl team looks impressive

by Gary Shelton on January 31, 2022

in general

Monday, 4 a.m.

One of these teams is going to win the Super Bowl?

Really?

The Rams, who struggled to get past the flying Jimmy Garoppolo's, or the Bengals, who needed a brain cramp by Chiefs' coach Andy Reid to win. One of those teams will dance in the confetti and answer questions about what a dynasty they are and star in a brand-new group of commercials for bad sandwiches.

Oh.












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Don't get me wrong. The NFC and AFC title games were close enough, and they both had great finishes. But no one playing on Sunday exactly had the look of a powerhouse, did they? The old Steelers are hardly quivering behind their resumes.

The 49ers lost largely because they dropped an easy interception when they had the lead in the fourth quarter.

The Chiefs lost when they figured they had enough points to beat the upstart Bengals and went into neutral. When games feature goats more than they feature heroes, it's a warning sign for the next round.

Most years, you see the eventual Super Bowl champion coming. For the life of me, I can't figure out how either one of these teams are going to win the big game.

Frankly, I thiught the Rams would play better. I thought they they would take more advantage of Garoppolo. I thought they would hit a big pass or two.

And the Chiefs? I thought they would continue to try in the second half. Look, I love Joe Burrow, and any team that can get to the Super Bowl a year after winning four games is kind of cool. But I suspect that whichever team that wins won't go down as one of the great Super Bowl teams of all time.

So what are you about to read?

A list of potential story ideas if I was covering the game.

  1. How do you find a quarterback. The Bengals did it with Burrow, who is about to become a star. The Rams did it by trading for Detroit's Matt Stafford. The key is that the game has evolved to a point that a team has to have a great quarterback to win.

2. How do the old fans in St. Louis feel about these Rams?

3. Can the best player on a Super Bowl team (Aaron Donald) be a defensive tackle.

4. Jalen Ramsey vs. Ja'Marr Chase: The matchup.

5. After getting fired because the Bucs wouldn't spend on free agency, Raheem Morris gets to the Super Bowl with Von Miller.

6. Who's going to stop Cooper Kupp?

7. What makes Burrow a better overall No. 1 draft pick than other quarterbacks (Trevor Lawrence, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, Jameis Winston).

8. Can the Bengals' offensive line stand up to the Rams?

9. Has Joe Mixon outrun the reputation he brought into the NFL?

10. Can Trey Hendrickson of the Bengals continue to play under the radar?

11. Does anyone care?

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