While the Los Angeles Rams prepare to take on the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl, let’s take a look at the exciting path we took to reach this point. In a playoffs full of upsets and walk-off finishes, it would not be crazy to label this the greatest postseason in NFL history.

The wild card round featured a few blowouts by the favorite, including a 30 point Buffalo Bills win over the New England Patriots, a 16 point Tampa Bay Buccaneers win over the Philadelphia Eagles, a 21 point Kansas City Chiefs win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, and a 23 point Los Angeles Rams win over the Arizona Cardinals. However, this round saw the remaining two games come down to the wire. On Saturday, January 15, the Las Vegas Raiders could not complete a comeback and fell short by just 7 points to the Cincinnati Bengals. On the other side of the bracket, the 3 seeded Dallas Cowboys were upset by the San Francisco 49ers. Dak Prescott and the Cowboys were looking to drive down the field to score a touchdown to win the game, before a poorly executed play resulted in the clock expiring prior to running a play.

Wild card weekend (and the monday that followed) proved that the remaining teams were all Super Bowl contenders, and when you have 8 Super Bowl contenders matched up against one other, you are bound to see some good games. To call the games that took place in the divisional round good would be a massive understatement. The 2022 divisional round may quite possibly be the greatest NFL playoff weekend in history. The 4 games were all nail biters that ended in a walkoff victory. Both #1 seeds were upset on walk off field goals – Bengals’ rookie Evan McPherson sent a kick through the uprights as time expired to knock off the top seeded Titans and Robbie Gould of the 49ers booted the ball through the uprights to send San Francisco to their 17th conference title game. 

As if those two games weren’t enough, the games on the following day were even crazier. The Los Angeles Rams held a 27-3 lead over the Buccaneers in the 3rd quarter before Tom Brady rallied his team to tie the game with under a minute to go. With overtime just 40 seconds away, Matthew Stafford threw a deep ball to MVP candidate Cooper Kupp who secured the catch and set the Rams up for a game-winning field goal. Matt Gay, their kicker, made the kick, sending the Rams to the conference championship and Tom Brady into retirement.

The final game of the round was the Chiefs vs Bills, a game that featured two of the top young quarterbacks in the league – Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. In what could be considered the greatest football game ever, the team’s combined for 25 points in the last two minutes of regulation. When Josh Allen threw his 4th touchdown pass to Gabriel Davis with just 13 seconds left, it looked like they were going to advance. However, Mahomes worked his magic and they kicked a tying field goal to send it to overtime. A coin flip decided that the Chiefs would get the ball first and they were able to march down the field and score a touchdown to win the game.

This divisional round marked the first time in NFL history that all 4 games ended with a game winning score (3 field goals and 1 touchdown).

Championship Sunday was set to be another day of great playoff football. In the AFC championship, Joe Burrow and the Bengals were able to comeback from a 21-3 deficit to force overtime. When the Chiefs got the ball first, many thought we would see a repeat of overtime from their matchup against the Bills. However, the Bengals defense forced an interception and Evan McPherson was able to kick another game winning field goal, sending the underdog Bengals to the Super Bowl. The second game of the day was the NFC championship, which featured a matchup between two California powerhouses. The LA Rams were able to prevail despite trailing 17-7 in the fourth quarter. 

These wins set us up for a great Super Bowl matchup. Joe Burrow and the Bengals had one of the worst odds to make the Super Bowl prior to the season starting. Coming off a rookie season where he tore his ACL and MCL in his knee, he has the chance to prove that he is one of the best quarterbacks in the league. On the other side of the field are the Los Angeles Rams, who traded for Matthew Stafford in the previous offseason. After spending 11 years in Detroit, he won 0 playoff games. Now, he has the chance to win a Super Bowl in his first season in a new uniform.

Who will come out victorious in Super Bowl LVI? Watch as the Bengals and Rams battle it out in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 13.