Super Bowl LVI Betting Guide: Rams vs. Bengals

Whether you’re a fan of football, betting, commercials or pure entertainment, Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest day of the year. Last year saw 23.2 million Americans wager $4.3 billion on the big game. This year promises to bring in even more as there’s news states with legal gambling and an intriguing matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals.

Take one look at any sportsbook’s Super Bowl offering and you’ll see there’s no shortage of betting options to partake in before kickoff in Los Angeles this Sunday at 3:30 PM PST. Below, we’ll give you a short preview of the game and our best picks so that you’ll be a winner at the end of the game on Sunday.

The odds are likely to change after this gets posted but you can see the latest with our live football odds comparison page. It shows the latest numbers and lets you compare them all across multiple sportsbook in one place.

The Spread

As a neutral observer it’s hard to make an argument that the Rams aren’t the better team. Their roster is home to 38 Pro-Bowl selections and 20 first-team All-Pro selections. The Bengals don’t have a single All-Pro selection and only have seven Pro Bowl selections, one short of Aaron Donald who has eight to himself

If all we cared about was what team has the better players the Cincinnati Bengals wouldn’t be playing this Sunday. They wouldn’t have beaten the #1 seed Tennessee Titans in the divisional round, and wouldn’t have come back from a 21-3 deficit against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game where they were seven point underdogs.

Joe Burrow, in only his second season, seems to thrive when the deck is stacked against him and he plays like he has nothing to lose. However, the Bengals have yet to beat a team as well rounded in the Rams in the playoff run. The Titans lacked a complete passer who could stretch their secondary and the Chiefs pass rush failed to take advantage of a weak Bengals offensive line.

The Rams will make neither of those mistakes. The Rams run game has been anywhere from poor to non-existent throughout the season and they’ve relied on Mathew Stafford who has consistently made plays all season long. Their pass rush with Aaron Donald, Von Miller, and Leonard Floyd, will make sure that Burrow won’t have a clean pocket to throw from throughout most of the game.

The question here shouldn’t be if the Rams can win, but if they can cover the 4.5 points given by most football sportsbooks. I don’t think they will. The Bengals will keep this game close, especially down the stretch so while I’d take the Rams to win, I’d take the Bengals to cover.

If you’re looking to bet the spreads for the halves, I like Rams -3 for the first half. They come out of the gates fast and Sean McVay does a good job of scripting the first few drives which allows the Rams to usually take a lead into halftime.

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Total Points

The total for this game currently sits at 48.5 which is relatively low in comparison to other recent Super Bowls. Four out of the last five games had an over/under of 54 points or higher. The only predicted point total lower than this one was 48 in 2017. That game saw the Eagles and Patriots combine for 74 points.

Maybe the top bookmakers are adjusting their lines based off of the last three Super Bowls where the under hit every time. Either way, I like the under here. As discussed earlier I think the Bengals offense will more resemble itself in the Titans game where they gave nine sacks and because of it only scored 19 points. The Rams for better or worse have shown they would rather play safe with a lead than try to improve upon it. That’s enough for me to like the under.

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Props

The Super Bowl is known for its props, you have the standard passing yards, rushing yards, and anytime touchdown scorers. You also have the wild ones like how long will the National Anthem take, what color gatorade bath will the winning coach get, and will Snoop Dogg smoke on stage? To see all the wilder props and their odds, check out our Top 10 Super Bowl Prop Bets. For the… more normal props, read on below for some of our favorites.

Anytime Touchdown Scorer: Mathew Stafford +650

Stafford’s no Lamar Jackson, hell he’s no Joe Burrow when it comes to running the ball. Still, the Rams have shown that they like to call QB sneaks when they’re down on the goal line. In fact, he scored two rushing touchdowns in his last three games doing just that. The heavy odds you get for this are just too good to pass up as well.

Over 5.5 Receptions: Odell Beckham Jr. +100

This number seems suspiciously low considering OBJ had 11 targets and nine receptions against the 49ers and eight targets with six receptions vs. Tampa Bay. His connection with Stafford has only grown the longer they’ve played together and there’s one big reason I really like this prop. Tyler Higbee has yet to practice since the 49ers game.

Higbee could miss this game, or at best not be anywhere close to 100%. His targets will need to go somewhere else and with the defense keyed in on Cooper Kupp, a void should be there for OBJ to capitalize.

Super Bowl MVP: Aaron Donald +1500

Don’t bet the farm on this one, but with odds this great, why not throw a few bucks that way. We know the Bengals O-line struggles, and we know Aaron Donald is an absolute freak. Will anyone be surprised if he takes over this game, and gets key sacks and fumbles that seal the game?