This Historical Super Bowl Trend Gives Edge to Matthew Stafford, Rams vs. Bengals

The NFL hasn’t exactly been a league ripe with parity over the last couple decades, in large part because of the presence of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Ben Roethlisberger. We saw sustained excellence from multiple franchises, and saw many repeat appearances. This year, with Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow under center in the Super Bowl, we’re treated to some fresh storylines. 

The Rams and the Bengals both bucked trends to get here

The Cincinnati Bengals haven’t won a Super Bowl in 33 years. Two years ago, they were the worst team in football, landing them the first overall pick with which they drafted Burrow. Last year, they won only four games, once again giving them an early drive pick. They used their first round pick this year on Ja’Marr Chase.

The Bengals catapulted from the basement to the penthouse, now representing the AFC in the Super Bowl. 

The Rams are in their second Super Bowl in the last four years, but it took a major retooling to get them there. Deciding that Jared Goff wasn’t the answer, they sent him and a couple draft picks to Detroit for Matthew Stafford. They signed Odell Beckham Jr after he was released by the Cleveland Browns. They made a trade for Von Miller, who has come up huge for them since joining their defensive front. 

Both of these teams have had incredible stories to get to this point. Most notably though, is the lack of playoff experience for both quarterbacks. 

Stafford and Burrow provide an interesting trend

These two quarterbacks, who are at very different stages in their career, do have one thing in common — neither one of them have been here before. That’s saying something, based on the recent string of Super Bowls. This is only the seventh Super Bowl that will feature two starting quarterbacks that entered the season with no playoff wins. Oddly enough, there’s a trend to this — in the previous six matchups of winless playoff quarterbacks, the NFC quarterback won five of them. 

Add this little fact to a laundry list of betting trends worth paying attention to as we head towards the Super Bowl. 

You can find all of Jon Helmkamp’s picks here.