On Sunday, Super Bowl LVI will crown the winner of what has been a truly unbelievable NFL season.
It has been a banner year for the league, with its inherent parity coming to the fore in the regular season before perhaps the greatest postseason in NFL history kicked off.
The Divisional Round saw the top seeds in both the AFC and NFC go home as the Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers each crashed out of the postseason.
In fact, the four Divisional Round matches were settled by a combined total of just 15 points with each game going down to the final play.
Sky Sports NFL expert Neil Reynolds believes the meeting between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams is the perfect climax to the crazy year.
“This is the first time we've never had either of the top three seeds from each conference in the Super Bowl - and it feels like that's how it should have been all along,” Reynolds exclusively told The Mirror.
"This has been the wildest, most unpredictable, most wide open season I can remember.
“In all the time I've covered the sport, I can't remember a season like this at all. Even in mid-December, the Bengals were 7-6 sat ninth in the AFC playoff rankings. They weren't even in one of the playoff spots!
“It’s a Super Bowl absolutely loaded with storylines but the top one is that we didn't know what we were going to get this season. I don't think we really know what we're going to get on Super Bowl Sunday, so it's going to be fantastic.”
One thing we know about Sunday’s Super Bowl is that the Rams will be playing in their home arena, SoFi Stadium, to become just the second team to contest the championship game in their home stadium after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a year ago.
It is perhaps unsurprising to some to see the Rams in the Super Bowl. They lost to the New England Patriots 13-3 three years ago in Super Bowl LIII, and they have accumulated a roster filled with star names - and Reynolds thinks the approach is clearly paying off.
“People say they're gambling and they're all in, but it's not that much of a gamble when you're in the playoffs four years out of five and in a second Super Bowl in four years,” he said.
“The Rams undoubtedly have superstars, but what impressed me is how two players came in halfway through the season: Von Miller has been a great addition after he took a couple of games to get up to speed, and Odell Beckham has spent the last couple of years being painted as a malcontent but it's about playing football on Sunday with him now.
“I love the way that the Rams are an all-star team, but they also have their priorities straight. They want to win games and be professional.”
The Rams have picked up numerous stars over the last 12 months, trading for quarterback Matthew Stafford and Von Miller while they signed Odell Beckham Jr as a free agent.
The blockbuster trade for Stafford saw the Rams give up Jared Goff and first round picks, highlighting their desire to win a Lombardi Trophy as soon as possible.
While he was pleased with the move for Stafford, Reynolds remains adamant that it is ‘championship or bust’ for the Rams - just making the Super Bowl is not enough to justify their big swings.
“I’m so glad that Matthew Stafford has been freed from the shackles of Detroit and is now getting to shine on this big stage,” Reynolds said. “We’re talking about one of the greatest arms in NFL history.
"His ability to improvise and throw from different angles is amazing, and he was doing it before we all got wowed by Patrick Mahomes - we just didn't know it because he was in Detroit for 12 years!
“However, I think the Rams have to win for this season to be considered a success, because what they're doing is not the normal way. There are people there that are waiting to criticise what the Rams have done.
“If I'm a Rams fan, I’m happy with their approach but you don't bring on that much proven talent to finish second. There's no doubt they traded for Matthew Stafford to get more than Jared Goff gave in the Super Bowl three years ago.”
If any team truly encapsulates the unpredictable theme of the 2021 season, it is the Bengals. They came into the season with odds of 125/1 to win it all alongside the likes of the New York Jets, the Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Reynolds insists the Bengals show the value in acquiring a special quarterback given how quickly Burrow has turned the team’s fortunes around - but he warned Cincinnati must not assume they will return to the Super Bowl in the future.
“The Bengals were considered among the cellar-dwellers of the NFL, and they are showing the importance of having a quarterback,” added Reynolds.
“Joe Burrow can throw and run, but his greatest skill is inspiring those around him. He’s completely transformed the franchise.
“The Bengals spent wisely spending in free agency; they needed to upgrade their defence. Trey Hendrickson was the big one, but he's absolutely paid off and the rest were brought on board relatively cheaply.
"There is a wonderful contrast to these teams, and you can't be critical of one way or the other. Both have gotten to the Super Bowl.
“Jeff Reinebold thinks the Bengals are playing with house money. He says it quite a lot - and I get that they weren't expected to be here - but you don't put in all this work to get to the Super Bowl for nothing.
"Look at the quarterbacks coming out of the AFC: Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert.
“There is all of these great young quarterbacks in the AFC and Joe Burrow is one of them, but I think it is going to be tougher for the Bengals to return than it will be for the Rams. You never know when you're going to get another opportunity.”
Near the end of the interview, Reynolds laughed nervously as the all-important question was asked: who is going to win Super Bowl LVI?
“Let me put it this way: we never have known what will happen all season long. I don't think we really know what's gonna happen in the Super Bowl,” Reynolds conceded.
“The right guard position is a real problem on the offensive line, and Aaron Donald is the best pound for pound player in football.
"He lines up over the guard, so if the alarm bells are ringing anywhere from the Cincinnati Bengals, it's there. I'm hoping for and expecting a close game. If it's not, it'll be because the Rams defence took over.
“I think it'll be a close one. I'm giving the edge to the Rams with all their star power and that defensive line, 27-24.”
Watch Super Bowl LVI from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles live from 11.30pm on Sky Sports NFL & NOW on Sunday, February 13; with all the pre-game build up from 10pm
