The greatest game ever played! Super Bowl LVI promises to be a battle of old and new with veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford facing off against second-year star Joe Burrow.
The 2021 NFL season culminates in a battle between two teams — the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams — which will take place on Sunday, February 13.
Super Bowl 2022 has some big shoes to fill after Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs challenged legendary quarterback Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV. (Brady led the Bucs to a 31-9 win over the Chiefs.)
Last year, both Brady, 44, and Mahomes, 26, came into the stadium with Super Bowl victories under their belts. With the 2021 win, the former New England Patriots quarterback brought his Lombardi trophy total to seven, leaving Mahomes with just one so far.
This year will be the first attempt at a championship title for both Stafford, 33, and Burrow, 25, marking the first time that either quarterback has appeared in a Super Bowl game.
Stafford previously played for the Detroit Lions for 12 years before being traded to the Rams in 2021. If he leads his team to a win, it will be the second championship for the Rams franchise.
“Long time coming, you know? Spent a lot of years in this league and I’ve loved every minute of it,” the Florida native told reporters after the team’s NFC win in January. “I feel blessed to be able to play in this league for as long as I have but I sure am happy for this opportunity for not only myself but, really, so many guys in that locker room that deserve this too. And that’s what it is, it’s an opportunity to go out there and win another one.”
For Burrow and his Bengals, there is more on the line. The Iowa native, who briefly played college ball at The Ohio State University before finishing his career at Louisiana State University, could become the first athlete to win a Heisman Trophy, a college National Title and the Super Bowl.
What’s even bigger, however, is that the young player could give the Bengals their first Super Bowl title in franchise history.
“I think if you had told me before the season, I would’ve been very surprised,” Burrow told Monday Morning Quarterback’s Albert Breer after the Ohio team’s AFC win last month. “But I’m not surprised right now because we’ve gone through a whole year. I know the kind of team that we have, and I know the guys that we have in the locker room. So right now, I’m not surprised. But if you were going to tell me after last season or in OTAs [organized team activities], I think I would’ve called you crazy.”
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