Stafford, Burrow aim for first Super Bowl wins in clash of No. 1 picks

Super Bowl LVI will feature many firsts.    It will be the first Super Bowl played at the Los Angeles Rams' new home, SoFi Stadium. It will also mark the first Super Bowl in NFL history to be contested between two teams seeded fourth or worse, as the fourth-seeded, NFC West Champion Rams will take on the fourth-seeded AFC North Champion Cincinnati Bengals.   If the Bengals stand victorious on Feb.

13, it will mark the first Super Bowl win in franchise history. If the Rams win, it will be the first victory for the franchise when the team has been based in Los Angeles (the Rams won in 2000, defeating the Tennessee Titans 23-16 in Super Bowl XXXIV, while they were based in St. Louis before moving back to L.A.

in 2016).   Super Bowl LVI will also feature a matchup between two first overall picks, Joe Burrow, selected No. 1 overall by the Bengals in 2020, and the Rams’ Matthew Stafford, who was taken first overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2009 NFL Draft.

  It’s just the second time in Super Bowl history both starting quarterbacks were selected No. 1 overall. The first instance occurred in Super Bowl 50 when Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos beat Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers.

  Burrow, 25, becomes the seventh quarterback to start a Super Bowl in his first or second season in the NFL, joining Dan Marino (1984), Kurt Warner (1999), Tom Brady (2001), Ben Roethlisberger (2005), Colin Kaepernick (2012) and Russell Wilson (2013). These six quarterbacks went a combined 4-2 in their Super Bowl debuts.   Coming off a torn ACL in the 2020 season, Burrow came back strong and finished 2021 among the league leaders with 4,611 passing yards (6th) and 34 touchdowns (8th).