Rams, Bengals get ready for Super Bowl blockbuster

The first NFL championship game of the post-Tom Brady era sees the Rams play host at their gleaming $5.5 billion SoFi Stadium against a Bengals side chasing a first Super Bowl crown.

Around 100 million Americans are expected to tune in for the biggest annual event on the US sporting calendar, which kicks off at 3:30pm local time (2330 GMT).

The perfectly scripted season finale will see a duel between two talented quarterbacks playing in the Super Bowl for the first time, with Rams veteran Matthew Stafford pitted against the rising Bengals star Joe Burrow.

A Bengals victory would complete one of the most striking turnarounds in NFL history.

Last season, the team finished with four wins and 11 defeats, only slightly better than their 2019 campaign, which ended in a dismal 2-14 record.

But under head coach Zac Taylor, and buoyed by the arrival of No.1 draft pick Burrow in 2020, the Bengals are a team transformed.

A dogged, never-say-die approach characterized their post-season campaign, which saw them shock AFC top seeds Tennessee before another upset on the road over mighty Kansas City sealed their Super Bowl berth.

Whether Burrow is afforded the time and space to craft another Bengals upset is another question altogether, however.

A porous offensive line allowed him to be sacked a whopping nine times during the playoff win over Tennessee.

That is a stat that the formidable Rams defense, led by the human wrecking ball Aaron Donald, the best defensive player in the NFL, and veteran pass rusher Von Miller, will have taken note of.

On the offensive side, meanwhile, the Rams have more than enough weapons to puncture the Bengals defense.

The 34-year-old Stafford, playing in his fist Super Bowl, has an array of targets to aim