The football highlight of the year: The Los Angeles Rams meet the Cincinnati Bengals in Inglewood. Who will succeed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and win the Super Bowl?
The grand finale, the endgame, the crowning glory of the season: Super Bowl LVI in Inglewood, California. The Los Angeles Rams, the local heroes, meet the Cincinnati Bengals in their own stadium. It’s also quarterbacks Matt Stafford versus Joe Burrow. No Tom Brady with his Tampa Bay Buccaneers, no Aaron Rodgers with his Green Bay Packers, no Patrick Mahomes with his Kansas City Chiefs – the big megastars didn’t make it into the final. Very few expected the pairing of Rams and Bengals beforehand.
There will definitely be an unfamiliar new champion – the Rams (then still based in St. Louis) last won the Superbowl in 1999, the Bengals have never won a final in their long history.
Kickoff is at 12:30 a.m. – follow Super Bowl LVI here in the live ticker.
1st quarter, 4:54, 7:0: How are head coach Zac Taylor’s Bengals reacting? Not quite right yet. An incomplete pass from Burrow to Chris Evans leads to the next punt. Not much is going on there.
1st Quarter, 6:22, 7:0: TOUCHDOWN! The direct acknowledgment from the Rams. Stafford finds Beckham Jr. deep right in the end zone! What a pass, what a catch! Matt Gay converts the extra point.
1st quarter, 10:00, 0:0: But what are the Bengals doing there? Cincinnati is already at the center line but can’t make anything out of it. Burrow’s fourth try is parried and the Rams have the ball again!
1st Quarter, 13:27, 0:0: We have the first bag of the game. Trey Hendrickson catches Rams QB Stafford at 29 yards. The subsequent 3 and 17 leads to nothing. Punt Rams – and now the Bengals have possession.
1st quarter, 0: 0: Here we go! Kickoff Bengals, the Rams around QB Matt Stafford now have possession at the 25-yard line.
00:32: Once again, nothing is saved. Hollywood star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson really heats up the audience right before the kickoff.
If you smeeeeell… Hollywood star Dwayne Johnson shortly before kickoff. (Source: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)
00:28: Tennis legend Billie Jean King performs the traditional coin toss. The Bengals win – and opt for possession after the second half.
Handshake before the coin toss: Stafford (left) and Burrow. (Source: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)
12:18 am: Mickey Guyton’s national anthem rocks the stadium. Of course, the Air Force jets flying over the stadium shouldn’t be missing either.
00:15: It starts. A moving obituary for coaching legend John Madden gets the evening off to a good start. Madden died on December 28 at the age of 85.
11:48 p.m.: Super Bowl LVI in Inglewood will also be a field-side gathering of stars. Hip-hop grande Jay-Z has already taken a look around the lawn.
11:45 p.m.: Star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is already in form…
11:40 p.m.: Rams vs Bengals – who would have guessed? Read what finals mean for both teams, why Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow made an amazing comeback, and what the Rams’ clear advantage is here.