What is the Super Bowl matchup?

When/where: Feb. 13, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. The Rams won the NFC West with a 12-5 record before swatting aside the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of the playoffs and surviving a close one against the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round. The Bengals won the AFC North with a 10-7 record, then knocked the Las Vegas Raiders and top-seeded Tennessee Titans out of the postseason by a total of 10 points. Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford has played in 12 NFL seasons to just two for Cincinnati counterpart Joe Burrow, but Stafford is scarcely more experienced in the playoffs. He went 0-3 in the postseason with the Detroit Lions before the Rams traded for him last year. Burrow carries himself with uncommon confidence — and possesses the talent to back it up — and the same could be said of the Bengals’ rookie place kicker, Evan McPherson. With the likes of Aaron Donald, Von Miller and Jalen Ramsey, the Los Angeles defense boasts more star power than that of Cincinnati. The Bengals can match the Rams’ big-name wide receiver duo of Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. with a highly skilled pair of youngsters in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

Who played in the conference championship games?

AFC No. 4 Cincinnati Bengals 27, No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs 24 (OT) The Chiefs looked like the Chiefs in the first half, racing out to a 21-3 lead. But a missed chance at points from the Bengals’ 1-yard-line in the final seconds before halftime turned the game around. Burrow led Cincinnati back and into a late lead and although Patrick Mahomes brought the Chiefs down the field for a tying field goal that sent the game to overtime, Kansas City’s star quarterback wasn’t himself. He threw an interception on the third play of the extra period and a few minutes later, after McPherson’s latest clutch field goal, the Bengals were back in the Super Bowl for the first time since 1989. NFC No. 4 Los Angeles Rams 20, No. 6 San Francisco 49ers 17 Stafford led the Rams to 13 unanswered points, and the Rams’ defense shut down the 49ers’ offense, with a late interception capping the effort in a 20-17 win that sends L.A. back to the Super Bowl for the second time in four seasons. Kupp, who led the NFL this season in catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, did that in miniature against San Francisco with an 11-catch, 142-yard, two-touchdown performance. The 49ers could not run the ball effectively, and while their receiving corps played with great efficiency, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was not quite up to the task of carrying their attack.

What happened in the divisional-round matchups?

AFC: No. 4 Cincinnati Bengals 19, No. 1 Tennessee Titans 16 The Bengals are laughingstocks no longer. Their days as a downtrodden NFL team are done. They have a true franchise savior in Burrow, and they earned a spot in the AFC championship game. Burrow and the Bengals ousted the conference’s top seed from the playoffs, knocking off the Titans, 19-16, in a dramatic game at Nissan Stadium. NFC: No. 6 San Francisco 49ers 13, No. 1 Green Bay Packers 10 In the snow globe of Lambeau Field, in the cold that was supposed to be one of their biggest advantages, the Packers and their superstar quarterback could only watch as the 49ers marched methodically down the field. Aaron Rodgers’s offense, which dominated on the game’s opening drive, had gone mostly missing over its ensuing 10 possessions and left its defense vulnerable to the 49ers’ physical rushing attack, which pounded down the field as clock dripped away — not just on the game but perhaps an era of Packers football. And when San Francisco kicker Robbie Gould nailed a 45-yard field goal as time expired, the 49ers had delivered a stunning 13-10 win that sent them to the NFC championship game. NFC: No. 4 Los Angeles Rams 30, No. 2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 Things looked bleak for Tom Brady and the defending champion Bucs for the better part of three quarters. But despite a 27-3 lead, the Rams never looked comfortable, and four fumbles, including the second of the game by Cam Akers as Los Angeles needed just one more first down to ice the game, left the door open for Brady. He delivered, of course, and the game seemed sure to go to overtime after a massive collapse by the visitors. But Stafford found Kupp for 44 yards on a busted coverage. And when kicker Matt Gay hit a 30-yard field goal as time expired, Brady and the champs were knocked out after all in a 30-27 loss . No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs 42, No. 3 Buffalo Bills 36 (OT) The Bills and Chiefs combined for 25 points in the final 1:54 of regulation, culminating in a 49-yard field goal by Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker to tie the score at 36 on the final play of the fourth quarter. Kansas City then won the overtime coin toss, and Mahomes found tight end Travis Kelce for the game-winning touchdown from eight yards to end an epic contest with a 42-36 victory.

What happened in the first-round matchups?

The first round featured three games in each conference: AFC: No. 4 Cincinnati Bengals 26, No. 5 Las Vegas Raiders 19 Injuries, mistakes and an efficient Burrow proved too difficult for Las Vegas to overcome in a first-round AFC playoff game in Cincinnati, as the Bengals triumphed, 26-19. Burrow and the Bengals’ offense clicked from their opening drive, going 75 yards for the go-ahead touchdown and maintaining that lead throughout. The Raiders stayed within two possessions and had a chance to tie the score with less than two minutes remaining. Where a moment of questionable officiating hurt the team earlier in the game, it was a Derek Carr interception on a fourth-and-goal play from the Cincinnati 9-yard line that ended the Raiders’ season. AFC: No. 3 Buffalo Bills 47, No. 6 New England Patriots 17 The Bills played almost flawlessly and overwhelmed the Patriots, 47-17, at Highmark Stadium. Josh Allen threw five touchdown passes, two of them to tight end Dawson Knox, and tailback Devin Singletary ran for two touchdowns for the Bills. They scored the game’s first 27 points and never looked back. Their lead grew to 33-3 in the third quarter and to 47-10 midway through the fourth. NFC: No. 2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31, No. 7 Philadelphia Eagles 15 The defending Super Bowl champions overwhelmed the Eagles from the start, taking a 17-0 lead into halftime, building the advantage to 31-0 and not allowing Philadelphia to score until the fourth quarter. Brady finished with 271 passing yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, while the Bucs’ defense forced Jalen Hurts into a two-interception performance. NFC: No. 6 San Francisco 49ers 23, No. 3 Dallas Cowboys 17 The 49ers held off a late rally by the Cowboys to pull off the upset win on the road. San Francisco built leads of 13-0 and 23-7 before withstanding a fourth-quarter push by Dallas, which had the ball twice with less than two minutes to go but could not make the plays needed to get a go-ahead touchdown. AFC: No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs 42, No. 7 Pittsburgh Steelers 21 The Chiefs used 404 passing yards and five touchdowns from Mahomes to cruise to a relatively easy win over the Steelers in what was Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s final NFL game. NFC: No. 4 Los Angeles Rams 34, No. 5 Arizona Cardinals 11 Los Angeles dominated its division rival, scoring the first 28 points of the game and turning Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray’s playoff debut into a horror show in a blowout win. Stafford passed for 202 yards and a pair of touchdowns on just 17 attempts in his first career playoff victory. He was aided by a balanced rushing attack, scores by his two top receivers in Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr., and a defense that held the Cardinals to 40 total yards and forced two Murray interceptions in the first half.

How are postseason teams seeded?

In a format introduced after the 2020 regular season, seven teams from each conference make the playoffs — four division winners, plus three wild-card teams determined by the best records among non-division winners. The top four seeds are given to the division winners, with the team with the best record receiving a first-round bye to the divisional round. After each round, the playoff bracket is shuffled so the highest remaining seed plays the lowest remaining seed.

How do I watch the Super Bowl?

NBC will televise this year’s Super Bowl, and the game will be streamed on Peacock and NBCSports.com (subscription required for either), plus the NBC Sports, NFL and Yahoo Sports apps.

NFL playoffs schedule, bracket and what you need to know

By Des Bieler

Adam Kilgore

and

Matt Bonesteel

Updated January 30, 2022 at 10:33 p.m. EST|Published January 9, 2022 at 7:58 p.m. EST

The Washington Post (The Washington Post/TWP)

After another exciting weekend of NFL action, the field for Super Bowl LVI is set: the Los Angeles Rams will face the Cincinnati Bengals. The Rams will be playing at their home, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., in search of their second Super Bowl championship and fourth NFL title in franchise history. The Bengals have appeared in two Super Bowls but have never won an NFL title or, before the 1970 merger, an AFL title.

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The Rams got to the Super Bowl by dispatching the San Francisco 49ers, 20-17, ending a six-game losing streak to their division rivals in the process. The Bengals pulled off a stunner in defeating the Chiefs in Kansas City, 27-24 in overtime, to win the AFC crown.

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