Super Bowl 56: Who Is the Betting Favorite Between the Rams and Bengals and What Is the Point Spread?
Just as we all expected before the season, the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals will face off in Super Bowl 56 on Feb. 13. Both teams entered the postseason as No. 4 seeds and won their conference championship games by three points in thrilling fashion, and now they’ll meet in LA to decide the champion of the 2021-22 NFL season.
We know you’ll want to have some action on the Super Bowl this year, so let’s check out the point spread and total for the big game next Sunday.
Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals will meet in Super Bowl 56
The Super Bowl 56 matchup has officially been decided after a gripping championship weekend. On Sunday afternoon, the Bengals erased an 18-point deficit to stun Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime on a game-winning Evan McPherson field goal.
Cincinnati will be playing in its third Super Bowl in franchise history and its first since 1989. The Bengals fell to Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers in both of their two previous trips to the big game, so longtime fans must be thrilled they won’t be playing the dreaded Red and Gold this time around.
In the nightcap, the Rams fought back from down 10 in the fourth quarter to knock off the 49ers and advance to their second Super Bowl in the last four years. That one didn’t end so well for head coach Sean McVay as his high-powered offense was held to just three points by Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. But LA has a new sheriff in town in Matthew Stafford for Round 2.
It’s not the Super Bowl we all predicted going into the season, but we still can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
What is the spread of Super Bowl 56?
OK, so we know who will be playing in Super Bowl 56, but which team has been pegged as the betting favorite and what is the current point spread?
When sportsbooks first opened up their lines on Sunday night, they all made the Rams a 3.5- or 4-point favorite with a total of 49.5 or 50. Those hanging -3.5 on the Rams quickly went to -4 as money started to roll in on LA overnight. As of Wednesday morning, most sportsbooks have now moved the line to -4.5, and the total has dipped to 48.5.
Public bettors typically gravitate toward the favorite, especially in the Super Bowl, so it’s no surprise to see LA taking heaps of early money and sportsbooks being forced to move the line up a full point. Don’t be surprised if bigger, sharper bettors start to buy back on the Bengals now that we’ve hit 4.5 at most places.
No matter what kind of betting action we get over the next week and a half, expect the point spread to close at Rams -4 or -4.5.
How to bet Super Bowl 56
Because the Super Bowl typically features the two best teams in the NFL, the point spreads are normally pretty low. Only twice in the past eight years has a Super Bowl spread closed at -4 or higher, and the underdog won outright in both of those games (Philadelphia Eagles over New England Patriots in 2018, Denver Broncos over Carolina Panthers in 2016).
In fact, underdogs have dominated the Super Bowl over the last two decades. Since 2002, underdogs have gone 13-6-1 against the spread, per BetFirm.
The Bengals have only lost by more than four points four times in 20 games this season, and two of those losses came at the hands of the Cleveland Browns. It wouldn’t be surprising if Cincinnati won the game outright, so taking the 4.5 points seems like a no-brainer this year.
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