Three current NFL franchises have called Los Angeles home at some point in their history, but only one has ever claimed a Super Bowl victory while residing in L.A. That could change Sunday, when the Los Angeles Rams, playing in their home stadium, host the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl 56.
The Rams are favored -4.5, but the Bengals have defied the odds all season long, and into the postseason too. This big game L.A. story could easily go either way; it could have a happy or sad ending.
The latest Super Bowl odds, on the money line, payout -190 on the Rams, +166 on the Bengals. The Rams have played in four previous Super Bowls, but only two as a Los Angeles-based team, losing to the Steelers in 1979 and the New England Patriots in 2019.
They won the Super Bowl in 1999 while denizens of St. Louis and appeared again as such in 2001. That game marked the beginning of Tom Brady building his G.O.A.T. legacy.
To Live and Die in L.A.
Starting with Super Bowl I in 1967, the game Super Bowl has been played seven times in the greater Los Angeles area, all either the Rose Bowl in Pasadena (home to the Rose Bowl game and the UCLA Bruins) or the LA Memorial Coliseum (home to the USC Trojans) south of downtown. The most recent instance was 1993, Super Bowl XXVII.
The Raiders have made five Super Bowl appearances, one of which when they were based in Los Angeles. They won the Angelinos’ only Super Bowl (XVIII) when they bested the defending champion Washington Redskins, 38–9, in 1983.
While in Oakland, the franchise won the Super Bowl in 1976 before moving back to the franchise’s birthplace, Los Angeles, in 1980.
They moved back to Oakland in 1995, before moving on to Las Vegas a couple years ago.
The Chargers, now based in L.A. played in one Super Bowl in 1994, as a San Diego team but never as a Los Angeles franchise. The Chargers moved out of L.A. in their early days of existence, back in the 1960s, only to move back in 2017.
Randy Newman may love L.A. but NFL franchises most certainly do not, given all the instability we mentioned. Every franchise that that has been based there, at some point in their history, has been very peripatetic.
California Love
If the Rams close the deal, it will mark the first time that an L.A. team wins the Super Bowl in Southern California. Only the Rams have played in it while being under the L.A. brand, and it resulted in a 31-19 loss to the Steel Curtain Pittsburgh Steelers, in Super Bowl XIV (1980) at the Rose Bowl.
NFL Hall of Famer Ray Lewis discussed the Rams playing at home story line:
“The Rams – are you distracted being at home? There are a lot of distractions when you’re playing in your home stadium with everything around. And I’m telling you, the Cincinnati Bengals – they’re too young to be afraid.
“They don’t know what it means to be afraid. If you’re Joe Burrow, the first thing you’re saying is, ‘Give me whoever you’ve got, whoever your best is.’ That’s what I’m looking forward to, who comes into this game prepared mentally to play.”
This could be the x-factor that a lot of people analyzing this game have ignored.
The Pick
CBS Sports and Showtime pundit Julian Edelman sees it this way: “I think the Rams are going to win, but I do not think they are going to cover. I think the Bengals will cover. I will go with a 27-24 [Rams win]. Close game, defensive line, Aaron Donald just looking too stout.”
I agree, but I’m going to go Rams 37-31.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.