5 reasons Bengals will win Super Bowl 56

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JANUARY 30: Wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase #1 of the Cincinnati Bengals celebrates with running back Joe Mixon #28 and wide receiver Tee Higgins #85 after catching a third quarter touchdown pass against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium on January 30, 2022 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

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CINCINNATI, OH – NOVEMBER 07: Jonah Williams #73 of the Cincinnati Bengals looks to block Myles Garrett #95 of the Cleveland Browns during the game at Paul Brown Stadium on November 7, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

4. Offensive line duplicates AFC title game performance

During the regular season, Cincinnati Bengals’ second-year quarterback Joe Burrow was spot on. He connected on 70.4 percent of his throws for 4,611 yards and more than twice as many touchdown passes (34) as interceptions (14). He did fumble five times and lost two of those miscues. And he certainly took a beating throughout the year as Burrow was sacked 51 times in those 16 outings.

That has continued in the postseason. After being dropped twice in the wild card win over the Las Vegas Raiders, the two-year pro was sacked nine times at Nashville. That tied an NFL postseason record. But Burrow still managed to throw for 348 yards (28-of-37) and the Bengals came away with the win.

A supposedly-improved Kansas City defense came up with just one sack of Burrow in the AFC title game. But now Cincinnati’s much-maligned offensive front will have to deal with the likes of Aaron Donald, Leonard Floyd and midseason addition Von Miller. The Rams finished with 50 sacks in 17 regular-season contests and have added five more QB traps in three postseason games. It will be interesting to see if Zac Taylor’s offensive line can hold off the Los Angeles’ pass rush, an extremely daunting task.

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