The Rams’ pass rush, I’m thinking, could be key on Sunday. They’re one of the better teams at getting after quarterbacks, and that’s been an issue for the Bengals.
Cincinnati in the regular season allowed 55 sacks, 3rd-most in the league. The Rams, meanwhile, had one of three defenses with 50-plus sacks.
The Bengals don’t have much of an offensive line, particularly at right tackle, where Riley Reiff suffered a season-ending injury in December. They’ve been going with Isaiah Prince, but only because they have to. Prince is a former sixth-round pick who was waived during his rookie season by the Dolphins (in 2019).
Cincinnati has another young sixth-round pick at guard, Hakeem Adeniji.
The Bengals allowed 9 sacks in their playoff game at Nashville.
Considering how effectively the Rams were able to put pressure on Tom Brady, I would think they’ll be able to get to Burrow pretty quickly, raising the degree of difficulty for the entire offense. Aaron Donald should cause some problems inside, and they’ve also got Leonard Floyd and Von Miller providing heat from outside.
Checking the historical numbers, I see that 19 defenses have finished with at least 5 sacks in Super Bowls. I would think the Rams have a decent chance of becoming the 20th. And of those previous 19 teams that were able to hit 5-plus sacks, only four of them lost in those Super Bowls (in the chart below, those teams are tagged with black dots).
Sacks, as a reminder, didn’t become an official sack until 1982. So on the chart below, some of the numbers are those generated by Pro-Football-Reference.com. They spent a few years picking through all the old play-by-play records and team-supplied numbers, tracking down the sacks for all of the previous games of the Super Bowl era.
Von Miller, of course, was the key figure powering Denver’s pass rush against Carolina six years ago, with 2.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles against Cam Newton. So if the Rams can get things going nicely on Sunday, with Miller perhaps running past Prince for a sack or two, he could be a key part of good pass rushes on two difference Super Bowl franchises.
| DEFENSES WITH 5 SACKS IN SUPER BOWL GAMES | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Defense | Opp | Com | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Sk |
| 1975 | Pittsburgh | Dall. | 15 | 24 | 162 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 1985 | Chicago | N.E. | 17 | 36 | 116 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 2015 | Denver | Car. | 18 | 41 | 197 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 1966 | Green Bay | K.C. | 17 | 32 | 167 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 1983 | LA Raiders | Was. | 16 | 35 | 193 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 1989 | San Francisco | Den. | 11 | 29 | 103 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 1977 | • Denver | Dall. | 19 | 28 | 182 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 1978 | Pittsburgh | Dall. | 17 | 30 | 176 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 1981 | San Francisco | Cin. | 25 | 34 | 284 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 1987 | Washington | Den. | 15 | 39 | 230 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 1988 | San Francisco | Cin. | 11 | 25 | 123 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 1991 | Washington | Buff. | 29 | 59 | 240 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| 1996 | • New England | G.B. | 14 | 27 | 208 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 1996 | Green Bay | N.E. | 25 | 48 | 214 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| 2002 | Tampa Bay | Oak. | 24 | 44 | 250 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| 2007 | NY Giants | N.E. | 29 | 48 | 229 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2015 | • Carolina | Den. | 13 | 23 | 104 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 2016 | • Atlanta | N.E. | 43 | 63 | 442 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 2016 | New England | Atl. | 17 | 23 | 240 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan