Super Bowl LVI: Rams vs Bengals, latest news | What time, dates, predictions, tickets | 10 February
Super Bowl LVI Rams vs Bengals latest news
A former quarter back who was actually once on the roster of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bengals' coach has seen his stock rise immensely in recent years, but by just how much? Let's take a look.
Who is Zach Taylor?
Born in the small town of Norman, Oklahoma, Taylor actually had dreams of being a quarterback in the NFL. In fact for the better part of his college life and even the initial years after, that's exactly what he tried to do After a stellar high school career as a quarterback for his local school which ended in 2001, he was not actually recruited by many colleges. It wouldn't be until 2004 when he made his way to Butler Community College that the football fraternity took notice. With just one sensational season under his belt he moved on to the University of Nebraska.
Traditionally, the Super Bowl has been hosted by cities in the sun belt, warm cities that don't generally have snow or ice. Those days are long past and in recent years we have seen Super Bowls played in Detroit, Minneapolis, and East Rutherford, NJ. The only thing crazy about this bid is that no city without a franchise can host the Super Bowl. There have been rumors swirling for years that the Jaguars are eyeing a move to London. Maybe Tottenham Stadium know something that we don't...
Super Bowl LVI was meant to be the people’s Super Bowl, wasn’t it? The shocking amount of money being charged for a seat is keeping the real fans out.
Super Bowl LVI has been making the headlines bubble and boil this year, as much for everything around the event as for the game itself. From the halftime show, which sees 90s gangsta rap become gentrified, if not downright venerable, to the stadium itself, an architectural triumph that weaves working-class Angelinos into the fabric of its setting in a way that only Dodger Stadium can rival.
On the field, the NFL title game will have lots of headline-grabbing stories: the number-one-pick quarterback who got here faster than any other versus the number-one-pick quarterback who got here slower than (almost) any other, the two young coaches who have flipped the NFL on its head, the two fourth-seed teams facing off for the crown, newspaper and online journos have no shortage of material to fawn over.
But one story has grabbed the public’s attention like no other. Ticket prices.
When the Bengals meet the Rams in Sunday's big game, one of the head coaches will be facing not only his former team, but a team with which his last game coaching was a losing effort in the Super Bowl itself.
Zac Taylor coached the Rams in Super Bowl LIII
As the Cincinnati Bengals prepare for their Super Bowl showdown against the Los Angeles Rams, their head coach Zac Taylor will be preparing for a serious case of nostalgia as well. Taylor has taken the Bengals on an historic path to Super Bowl LVI, in just his third season as head coach. Indeed the Bengals are returning to the Super Bowl for the first time in more than three decades. Though as young as he is, Sunday won't be Taylor's first rodeo. It is in fact his second time coaching in the league's biggest game. In the years before the Bengals hired him, Taylor actually worked under Sean McVay as the quarterbacks coach of the Los Angeles Rams. In his final game with them, the Rams lost 13-3 to a Tom Brady led New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. The Bengals hired him on the very next day.
Super Bowl weekend is the perfect time for those living the lifestyles of the rich and famous to flash some serious cash. Hopefully fans heading to Los Angeles to watch the Rams and the Bengals square off on Super Bowl Sunday are aware that they will be attending the most expensive Super Bowl ever.
LA Super Bowl means LA prices
First let’s size up the prices of travel expenses for those who have to make the trip to Los Angeles. That will already cost a pretty penny with hotels and airlines. Luckily for many Rams fans, they won’t have to worry about booking a plane ticket or a hotel room for Super Sunday. The Bengals fans, however will.
Dr Dre says he manifested Rams success; Snoop Dogg declares himself the 'GOAT'
There won't be any wardrobe malfunctions during the Super Bowl Halftime Show, but Dr Dre promised it will be one to live long in the memory.
The Los Angeles Rams are in the Super Bowl thanks to stunning seasons from the likes of Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald, but it turns out Dr Dre might have had something to do with it too.
Sunday's Halftime Show will be a parade of hip hop royalty, with Dre set to be joined on stage by Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige. A cultural icon in Los Angeles, Dre is delighted to be sharing the spotlight with the hometown team, claiming to have spoken their success into existence.
"Who else could do this show here in LA, who else could perform the Halftime Show other than these amazing artists that we put together for this thing?" Dre said during the Halftime Show media conference on Thursday. "Not only that, I've been manifesting the Rams, since the beginning of the season, I'm just thinking about it every day, I'm meditating on it and I'm like: 'Okay, it would be perfect if we are in the Super Bowl performing and the Rams are in the game as well.'"
Super Bowl Live on AS USA Facebook
This Sunday night, live on our Facebook page, you can keep up to date with all the action from SoFi Stadium and get real-time analysis from our correspondents Sveto Pavlovic and Andy Restrepo, who will be covering the entire game live from kick-off to the final whistle.
They’ll be broadcasting direct from half an hour before kick-off and ahead of the action they’ll be chatting to several of our journalists covering the game, including Dane Arlauckas, who will be doing our minute-by-minute live blog of the game - Dane will offer up his predictions on who’s going to win it, who’ll be MVP and what we can expect to see from both sides offense and defense.
Sveto and Andy will also have time to chat to Reem Abdalazem (who you may recognize from the byline on this feed), who will be in charge of our half-time show coverage, and she’ll be running down what we can expect to see (and maybe more importantly) hear from the titans of hip-hop: Dr Dre, Mary J Blige, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar.
So head over to our Facebook page and follow us, and be sure to tune in on Sunday evening. Oh, and if you’ve got any questions for us that you’d like us to answer live on air, just drop us a message on our Facebook page and we’ll do our best to give you what you want!
One of the best Super Bowl ads so far!
Surprise Super Bowl artists coming out to light!
The Super Bowl LVI halftime show is right around the corner, and we know people are waiting to watch THAT show on Sunday, especially with the five interesting artists who are to perform: Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and the one and only Mary J. Blige.
The show will certainly tick all the boxes for the hip-hop, rap and soul music, because really how can it not...?
There is a surprise though that JUST came out to light, and was not yet supposed to...
Dr. Dre is likely to bring 50 Cent along!
Let's hear it from 50 Cent himself...
The Bengals' head coach isn't doing too shabby these days.
Imagine a Super Bowl in England?
Onto more entertaining news. North London is offering to host an overseas Super Bowl. Will we live to see that happen?
Sean McVay is one of the best in the business today and that's why he's paid like it!
Where are the Rams' fans??
If there is one thing that's certain as we prepare for the Super Bowl it's that Cincinnati's faithful is very much behind their team. Will LA's fans be out in full force come game day?
Comeback King
The Cincinnati Bengals draw a lot of inspiration from their young quarterback Joe Burrow. The 25-year-old suffered a knee injury in his rookie season, and had to be sidelined for many games.
Despite this setback, he was able to bounce back and help the team get to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1988.
Let's see if he can take the team all the way to raising the Lombardi trophy on Sunday.
Now that you’ve seen the postseason stats, here are some more numbers to chew on.
Before NFL hopefuls can be drafted, they are required to take an IQ test. How well did quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Matthew Stafford do in this assessment?
One of them actually managed a score that is high up on the all-time list of NFL Wonderlic scores.
The tale of the postseason tape
Joe Burrow and Matthew Stafford have both led their teams to the Super Bowl, but how well did they perform in the playoffs?
One statistic to note- the Bengals quarterback was sacked 12 times.
Which team are you rooting for?
The Rams may be favored to win on Super Bowl Sunday, but it appears that many fans all over the US are cheering for the underdog Bengals.
Judging by these numbers, there might not be a lot of Los Angeles fans to make enough noise for the team in SoFi stadium even though they are playing on their home field.
The Los Angeles Rams have proven that they have the strength and the skills needed to make it all the way to the Super Bowl.
Aside from brawn power, it appears the Rams have brain power as well. Here’s more on some of their stars’ Wonderlic scores.
Sure, we can’t wait for Super Bowl LVI, but there’s something happening tonight that will distract us from all our anticipation- finding out who the MVP for the year is!
NFL Honors will give out awards to those who delivered standout performances this season. Don’t miss it!
Will Rams fans flock to SoFi stadium on Sunday?
It's rare for an NFL team to compete for the Lombardi trophy in their home stadium. That will happen on Sunday for the Rams, and it will only be the second time in league history for this rare occasion to take place.
Despite the home field advantage, it seems like SoFi Stadium stadium will not be packed to the rafters with Rams fans. At least, the team’s pep rally (attended by only a few thousand compared to the Bengals rally's 30,000) and social media indicate this to be so.
A sign of things to come.
One thing that will be momentous in the Super Bowl LVI half-time show is the incorporation of sign language interpretations into the acts.
Deaf rappers Warren “WaWa” Snipe from Washington D.C. and Sean Forbes from Detroit will perform ASL versions of the songs to be performed by the all-star lineup of rap and hip-hop artists.
Meanwhile… Joe Burrow continues to demonstrate that he is, indeed, cool.
The Bengals quarterback just keeps upping his cool quotient- this time, by inviting his former football coach at Athens High School to the Super. Bowl.
Considering that tickets to SoFi Stadium are priced at the thousands, his former trainer was sure to be thrilled to receive the invitation. Also because it was a thoughtful gesture, of course.
Super Bowl LVI is going to be hot!
And that's absolutely in the literal sense. According to forecasts, we could be seeing the hottest Super Bowl kickoff ever. An out-of-season winter heatwave is expected to last until Sunday, and could bring the temperature up to the high 80s or even 90 degrees.
That just might break the record for highest temperature during a Super Bowl, which currently stands at 84 degrees, set in 1973, also in Los Angeles.
It will be the first Super Bowl for both quarterbacks, Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow, and history will be made regardless of which team wins.
Burrow was quick to make the championship game, while Stafford has had a long wait to get there.
Here are some more comparisons between the two signal callers.
The Rams and the Bengals head-to-head over the years...
Only a few days left before the Rams and the Bengals take center stage for Super Bowl LVI, and it will be only the 15th time for them to face each other on the field.
The Bengals have won eight out their past 14 matchups. Before you place your bets for the big day, you should check out these other numbers that they recorded during their past encounters.
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg's collab
Here's a little snippet of one of the more famous songs of Dr. Dre ft Snoop Dogg, two performers at Super Bowl LVI's halftime show!
Dr. Dre and Eminem at the Super Bowl Halftime show
Let's get back to the halftime show performers we have yet to mention: Dr. Dre and Eminem.
Both these American rappers have crossed paths in more than a casual way. Dr. Dre was the executive producer of The Eminem Show, in Eminem's 2002 release. He produced three songs on that album, one of which was released as a single. He also appeared in the award-winning video for "Without Me".
But apart from his hip-hop producing career, Dr. Dre is also a rapper and entrepreneur who helped popularize the gangsta rap subgenre.
Eminem, is known as one of the most-controversial and best-selling artists of the early 21st century. He also sits among the best-selling music artists of all time.
Because big events can sometimes be of danger, NFL officials have been securing the SoFi Stadium and its surroundings in an effort to prevent any sort of terrorist attacks. Check out the article with more details!
Top 100 Super Bowl plays
Here's a quick distraction with some of the Super Bowl's top plays!
Kendrick Lamar: the most influential
Now Kendrick Lamar, who is another halftime show performer, is not just an artist, rapper, songwriter and record producer. He's also one of the most influential rappers of his generation. Why?
The millennium has made relentless efforts for inner city youth, influential music, and serving as a positive role model, which in return has made him an inspiration.
He has also donated a lot of money to the Red Cross and he has headlines concerts to help homeless women and children, and people in need in India.
His cultural impact was awarded in 2015 with the California State Senate's Generational Icon Award. A few years later, in 2018, Lamar became the first hip-hop artist to win a Pulitzer Prize for his album "DAMN".
Oh and according to hip-hop media executive Ebro Darden, the 34-year-old might be dropping a single this week ahead of his Super Bowl appearance. You know what the means... If this album is up at the same time Lamar performs at the Super Bowl, his hits will sky rocket! Might we just remind you of Shakira's and Jennifer Lopez's Spotify streams rocketing up by 230% and 335% after their performance at the 2020 Super Bowl!
The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul
There is nothing exactly new going on with Mary J.Blige, who is also performing at the halftime show, but wanted to remind all our readers of just why this American singer and songwriter is known as the Queen of hip-hop soul.
Blige, who is 51, has won nine Grammy Awards, four American Music Awards, and twelve Billboard Music Awards and has sold over 50 million albums. She is undeniably one of the greatest and most known singers of her generation!
Snoop Dogg now owns the label that launched his career in 1992
Let’s start the day with some interesting details about the SBLV halftime show performers!
First and foremost, yesterday was a big day for Snoop Dogg, the 50-year-old rapper who will be one of the halftime show performers.
Dogg now owns 'Dying Row Data', the label that launched his career, after acquiring the rights.
Kanye West, the 44-year-old rapper took on Instagram to congratulate Snoop!
Super Bowl Night preparations!
And in case you're hosting your first Super Bowl night in your new apartment, or you're going over to someone else's, here are some ideas of things you can never get enough of: Guacamole, chips, cheese dip, beer and chicken wings- just to name a few.
Super Bowl LVI build-up: welcome
Hello and welcome to our latest live blog, with all the latest Super Bowl LVI build-up, just for you. We are now only 3 days away from kickoff at SoFi Stadium, where the Rams will go for another Super Bowl championship against a Bengals team that has never lifted the Vince Lombardi trophy.