Super Bowl: The Rams or the Bengals, who is the favorite for ESPN specialists?

They are the visible face of the broadcasts of the superbowl for Latin America for a long time now and tomorrow they will once again be in charge of showing the continent the greatest sporting event in the United States: the duel between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals, the great final of American Football.

With more than 100 Super Bowls broadcast between them four, Eduardo Varela, Pablo Viruega, Ciro Procuna and John Sutcliffe They are ESPN’s specialists for the grand finale of the NFL (National Football League) and El Comercio was able to participate in a brief conversation with them to obtain their forecasts for the definition of the tournament.

They participated in the conference, but Katia Castorena, Karina Correa and Rebeca Landa, experts who know the sport, will also be part of the coverage.

The definition

Everyone hopes that the game will be different from the one expected and will be defined in a last play, as in the previous ones superbowlbut their projections point to Los Angeles Rams as winners, and with a good advantage.

“The rams they were trained to be champions”assures Pablo Viruega. “The least they are going to ask Matthew Sttaford [quarterback] is win. You came to Los Angeles to be champion”he adds.

The Bengals of Cincinnati are going for the big surprise, and for the connoisseurs it goes beyond what their quarterback Joe Burrow, only 25 years old, can do. “Hopefully it’s a close game, that Cincinnati doesn’t depend on Burrow, that Joe Mixon shows up. The line is not good to protect the serve, but when it comes to running … If Mixon can have more than 100 yards, they dominate the time of possession and they have 30 carries as a team, that’s where they have to focus.analyzes Eduardo Varela.

“I would add Hendrickson. He is the third player with the most sacks of quarterbacks in the last two seasons. If he has a good day and is harassing Stafford and if the defense generates turnovers, Cincinnati can be on the right track.”Paul adds.

For John Sutcliffe, the rams “they will know how to cover the line (stop the advances of the attack of the Bengals) and the pressure will take its toll on the Bengals”, since they are the surprise of the tournament and have never won a superbowl in its history.

On average, the stakes are on the side of the RAMs (pays 2.70), while for the Bengals the fee is 1.50. In addition, those from Los Angeles have the locality in their favor, since the match will be played at Sofi Stadium in the city.

the marshals

The cameras will be encrypted in what the quarterbacks of each team can do. Without the historic Tom Brady (Buccaneers) or Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs), the superbowl introduces a new face as Burrow, 25, in his second season on the NFLand Staford, who already has 13 years of experience.

Although the specialists point out that Joe is one of the bets for the future in the sport, it is Matthew who is called to stand out. “It will be a rebuilding of his career. He was in Detroit and pitched consistently, but nothing was going on with the team. On the Rams he is different. He has over 50,000 yards in his career and if he gets a ring, he’ll already be entering Hall of Fame border territory.”analyzes Ciro Procuna.

Regarding Joe, he affirms that a victory would be something historic for the club and for him. “Imagine what it would mean to be a national champion (Conference), a Heisman trophy winner (best college player in 2019), first overall pick (in the 2020 Draft) and a Super Bowl winner. It would be getting into a very exclusive club where only Joe Montana and Joe Namath are. It would be tremendous for his 25 years “he adds.

From the end of the season, ESPN specialists highlight that two different teams have reached the final than in recent years. “In the last 17 years there have been, if I remember correctly, 13 different champions.” There are actually 11 and only clubs like the Patriots, Steelers and Giants have been able to repeat the crown since 2005, despite the fact that many have been able to repeat their presence in the Super Bowl.