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INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Teams are built to get to the Super Bowl in so many different ways and there are often attempts around the league to duplicate these success formulas.
Planning to follow the path the veteran Rams took to get to Super Bowl LVI is probably not advisable. Drafting wisely and retaining your own players and developing a quarterback are all ingredients favored by teams throughout the NFL. The Rams ignored almost all of this. Their two greatest home-grown players are defensive lineman Aaron Donald and wide receiver Cooper Kupp. They traded for their quarterback, Matthew Stafford, less than a year ago. Los Angeles traded so many of their first round picks for established veteran players that they might as well tell some of their college scouts to go on sabbatical.
This created an unusual scenario for the Rams. All teams say they feel the need — not the desire — to win once they get to a Super Bowl. There are differing degrees of urgency, though. This trip for the Bengals arose without much advance notice. Not so with the Rams. They were built to get here and whatever happens next is certainly not irrelevant, but the future takes a backseat to the here and now with this particular Rams team.
The Rams did follow a familiar script, though, in terms of loading up on pass rushers the way the Giants did in their Super Bowl victories after the 2007 and 2011 seasons. The approach was different — the Giants drafted Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul and Mathias Kiwanuka. The Rams drafted Donald but signed Leonard Floyd in free agency and traded for Von Miller. Trading for Stafford and signing receiver Odell Beckham Jr. were the splashier moves, but fortifying the defensive line might be the main reason why the Rams, three years after losing in the Super Bowl to the Patriots, are back in another one so soon.
The Rams are usually on the prowl when it comes to swarming up front on defense. Several of their top pass rushers in the week leading into the game said they were determined to be the first one to play tag, you’re it with Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
“I definitely believe all the guys up front, man, we want it,’’ Floyd, a former first round pick of the Bears, said. “It’s really a competition on who’s gonna get there first. Because all guys are so fast and we want it so much. It’s like a competition for us up front.’’
May the best Ram win.
In what looked to be the most glaring discrepancy heading into this game, Los Angeles have the firepower up front on defense, and the Bengals might not have enough of a protection plan with their shaky offensive line.
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“They’re a group that’s playing in the Super Bowl so you’ve got to respect that, they got there for a reason,’’ Donald said of Cincinnati’s offensive line. “I trust the players we got against the players they got and we’re gonna go out there and do what we got to do to win a game.’’
The Rams finished the regular season with 50 sacks, the third-highest total in the league, and the distribution is impressive. Donald (of course) leads the team with 12.5 sacks but not far behind is Floyd with 9.5. Miller recorded 4.5 sacks in seven games for the Broncos and since coming over to the Rams had five in eight regular-season games and two more in three playoff games.
As good as the Rams were this season as pass rushers, they picked it up in their first three postseason games, increasing from a pressure rate of 26.6 percent to to 31.7 percent, according to Next Gen Stats. Miller has made the greatest advance, going from a pressure rate of 9.8 percent to 18.4 percent in the playoffs.
This did not bode well for Burrow, who was sacked 51 times this season. No quarterback hit the turf more often.
The Bengals have been able to survive despite Burrow’s darting and dodging in the pocket. His completion rate was 64.3 percent when pressured during the regular season, but he has dropped to 47.6 percent when pressured in the playoffs.
Still, Burrow is able to make things happen when he is forced to flee, something he likely will have to do, repeatedly, to give the Bengals a good chance to pull off an upset.
“Just got to be aware he’s not a pure pocket passer,’’ Floyd said. “You’ve got to be aware that he’s got the legs to get out of the pocket and he’s also got the skills to play the quick game too. You can’t give up on our rushes just because the ball is coming out quick or they’re throwing screens, you just got to stick to your rushes and know you’re gonna get home and once you get home try to get the ball out.’’
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