Super Bowl LVI will wrap up the NFL season and crown a champion on Sunday night, as the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals do battle at SoFi Stadium in LA.
The Rams were favored in two of their three postseason games, pulling an upset against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They coasted to an easy win over the Arizona Cardinals in the Wild Card round and earned a trip to the big game thanks to a three-point win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Unlike the Rams, Cincy hasn’t been able to coast to any of their playoff wins this season. Each of their three playoff games was decided by one score, with the biggest margin, eight points, coming against the Raiders in the Wild Card Game. The two games after that were both big upsets by the Bengals, taking down the top-seeded Titans and then Super Bowl favorite Kansas City Chiefs in back-to-back weeks by a last second field goal.
Here’s a look at betting splits for the Bengals and Rams in Super Bowl LVI as of Wednesday, February 9.
Rams vs. Bengals betting splits
Point Spread
The Rams are 4.5-point favorites. 53.9% of the handle and 62.2% of total bets are on the Bengals as 4.5-point underdogs.
Is the public right?
I would say this is a good bet. Cincinnati has proven that even though they’re a young and inexperienced team in the playoffs, they’re not going to get blown out. The Rams have a talented roster, but so did the Chiefs. Kansas City was up big on Cincy heading into the second half of the AFC Championship Game, but the Bengals battled back to force overtime. Both offense and defense show up when they need to. They won’t necessarily win the game, but they’ll keep it close.
Over/under
Total points is listed at 48.5. 54.9% of the handle and 57.2% of total bets are on the over.
Is the public right?
This is a tough call. The Rams offense is elite and has playmakers all across the field. They’re averaging 28 points per game this postseason and have played against some stellar defenses in that time too. Cincy has scored a bit less, averaging just 24 points per game. LA is the best defensive unit they’ve seen in the postseason though, with a dominant pass rush taking on a Bengals offensive line that’s considered one of the weakest in the league.
Just because of how good the Rams defensive front could be, we’d advise going for the under here. The point total has dropped from 50 down to 48.5 for a reason.
Moneyline
The Rams are -200 favorites to win the game while the Bengals are +170 underdogs. 65.6% of the handle and 65.0% of total bets are on the Bengals to spring the upset.
Is the public right?
There’s a lot of belief in the Bengals right now, and rightfully so. They’re a fun team to watch and have some absolute superstars like Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase leading the way. They’ve made it this far, but the overall inexperience of the group might catch up to them.
Their opponent was in the Super Bowl just three years ago and most of the key players on this team have made deep playoff runs or have Super Bowl rings of their own already. Plus, just looking at the rosters as a whole, the Rams do have a slight advantage pretty much everywhere except for in the running game, where Joe Mixon has been phenomenal for Cincy.
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