The Bengals may not be the safest Super Bowl pick in the NFL, but they’re still right there in the mix.
That’s the takeaway from a recent set of Super Bowl projections on the NFL’s website, where Cincinnati showed up alongside the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills. The Rams drew the most support, with eight analysts backing them to win it all. One of those picks had Los Angeles beating the Bengals in a rematch.
The Bills received three votes, while two analysts went with the Bengals as champions.
Brooke Cersosimo had Cincinnati getting past the 49ers, writing: “Joe Burrow and the Bengals return to the scene of Super Bowl LVI and prevail this time around, with their own defensive tackle, Dexter Lawrence, making the game-sealing stop.”
David Ely also put the Bengals in the title game, but with a different ending. His projection had Cincinnati beating the Rams, and he wrote: “In a twist from five years ago, Joe Burrow evades Aaron Donald (and Myles Garrett) in the fourth quarter at SoFi Stadium for a game-deciding TD and Cincy’s first Super Bowl title.”
The specific matchups are the kind of thing that makes these projections fun. A Bengals title decided by Dexter Lawrence instead of Aaron Donald would be a neat little twist, especially after Cincinnati’s all-in offseason.
And for Bengals fans, any path that puts them back in the Super Bowl conversation is a welcome one. At the very least, it suggests the team’s offseason left them positioned to make another real run rather than waste more of Joe Burrow’s prime.
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Watson and McDuffie arrive with different resumes, but the common thread is that each gives the Rams a real chance to raise the floor of a unit that needed fresh answers. The broader league context matters here too, with Chris Johnson landing in Miami, Benjamin St-Juste going to Green Bay and Jamel Dean heading to Pittsburgh, but Los Angeles may have made the most intriguing bet on upside. How quickly that overhaul clicks will go a long way toward showing whether the Rams just added bodies or truly changed the shape of their secondary. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Are Testing A Risky Australia Plan Before NFL History
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It is a more aggressive approach than the one other teams, such as the 49ers, are expected to take, with San Francisco planning to get to Melbourne a week early. For the Rams, the question is whether the league can turn a historic event into a workable football week without giving away too much on the front end, and the answer may shape how future international games are handled. [Read more 🡒]
Matthew Stafford Just Became A Bigger Threat For The Rams
Matthew Staffords postseason story has changed dramatically since he arrived in Los Angeles. After going 0-3 in the playoffs with Detroit, he has since built a 7-3 playoff record with the Rams, and that shift has helped redefine what this franchise can expect when the calendar turns. With the roster around him continuing to evolve, theres a growing sense that Stafford is no longer just the quarterback trying to survive January. He is part of a team that has learned how to lean into those moments.
The Rams have also put work into the rest of the operation, especially the rushing game and the defense, with offseason additions like Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald adding to the sense that the support system around Stafford could get even stronger. Looking ahead to 2026, the expectation is not simply that Stafford will be asked to carry the offense, but that he may have more help than ever if the group comes together the way the Rams envision. The upside is obvious, even if the full picture still has to play out. [Read more 🡒]