Super Bowl props are now filling odds boards at sportsbooks from coast to coast in advance of Sunday’s matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals.
Throughout the week leading up to Super Bowl 56 in Inglewood, California, Props.com will offer up our five favorite Super Bowl props for each teams’ skill position group on offense, as well as our top five defensive, kicker/punter, and special teams props. We’ll also break down five game-specific props; best bets for player to score the first touchdown; and even our favorite cross-sport props.
Yes, consider us your one-stop prop shop for Rams vs. Bengals. So be sure to check back all week for comprehensive and (we hope!) compelling Super Bowl 56 betting coverage.
Next up: Our top five defense-specific props.
Odds via DraftKings and updated as of 4 p.m. ET on Feb. 9.
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Total Sacks
The prop: 5.5 combined team sacks
The odds: Over -135/Under +110
Recent history suggests the odds on this prop are backwards. Because in the last 15 Super Bowls — dating to Super Bowl 40 — there have been more than five combined sacks exactly … three times.
In those three instances, the teams involved — Patriots-Giants (SB 42), Panthers-Broncos (SB 50), and Patriots-Falcons (SB 51) — combined for eight, 11 and 10 sacks, respectively. That’s 29 sacks in three games.
Number of total sacks in the other 12 Super Bowls since February 2006? 45.
Now, before you dump your entire Super Bowl props bankroll on this Under, keep a few things in mind. First, there have been at least four sacks in 12 of the past 15 Super Bowls (including exactly five on five occasions). So it’s not like the Under is frequently a runaway winner here.
More importantly, there’s a decent chance the sack totals in Super Bowl 56 are more likely to mirror Broncos-Panthers in Super Bowl 50 (11) than Patriots-Eagles in Super Bowl 53 (one). And it’s all because of the matchup.
Led by three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald, the Rams ranked third in the NFL with 50 sacks in the regular season. They’ve tacked on five more in three playoff games.
Meanwhile, despite lacking household-name pass rushers — more on that shortly — Cincinnati registered 42 sacks in the regular season (12th) and picked up an additional eight in the postseason.
Come Super Sunday, these ferocious defensive fronts will be chasing down two quarterbacks who don’t exactly possess Lamar Jackson-like elusiveness. In fact, no quarterback in the NFL has been dropped more often this season than the Bengals’ Joe Burrow (51 sacks in the regular season, 12 in the playoffs). Rams signal-caller Matthew Stafford has been dumped 35 times (20 regular season, five playoffs).
Not an easy call on this one. But given that we’re dealing with two classic drop-back quarterbacks (and a leaky Bengals offensive line), we’ll take a shot with the Over hitting on this prop for just the fourth time in the last 16 Super Bowls.
Total Turnovers
The prop: 2.5 combined turnovers
The odds: Over -135/Under +110
The last time there wasn’t a turnover in the Super Bowl, we were precisely 30 days into the 21st century. And oddly enough, the Rams were involved: On Jan. 30, 2000, the then-St. Louis Rams held off the Tennessee Titans 23-16 in an error-free Super Bowl 34.
Not only has there been at least one turnover in each of the 20 Super Bowls since, but there’s been multiple miscues in 19 of those games. (Lone exception: Super Bowl 41, when Peyton Manning’s pick-six against the Saints was the only turnover.)
Assuming tradition holds, we’re going to see at least two turnovers Sunday. But will we see more than that? Well, we did 13 times in 16 years from Super Bowl 35 through Super Bowl 51. In the four Big Games since, though, there have been two, two, four, and two turnovers.
This year’s Super Bowl entrants combined for 46 takeaways in the regular season (25 for the Rams; 21 for the Bengals). In the postseason, Cincy has forced a league-high seven turnovers (six INTs), while L.A. has five.
Offensively, the Bengals have coughed it up 23 times (but just twice in the playoffs, both Burrow interceptions). The Rams had 23 giveaways in the regular season, plus five more (including four lost fumbles) in the postseason.
L.A.’s offense has committed multiple turnovers in 10 of 20 games this season, including four of the last six. But its defense has answered by forcing multiple miscues in 11 games, including four of the last five.
Meanwhile, Burrow’s single interceptions in his last two games are Cincinnati’s only turnovers over its past seven contests. The Bengals’ D, on the other hand, has forced at least two turnovers in four consecutive games.
Los Angeles Rams: DT Aaron Donald
The prop: 4.5 total tackles (including assists)
The odds: Over -120/Under -110
When you look at Aaron Donald’s trophy case — three defensive Player of the Year awards, eight Pro Bowls, seven All-Pro selections — and then look at this prop number, you can’t help but shake your head.
4.5 tackles? That’s it? Really?
Indeed, the number seems low. But the reality is, the Rams’ ferocious defensive tackle has finished with five-plus tackles in exactly half of his 20 games this season. And he’s done so just once in the playoffs — and barely, with a five-tackle performance against the Buccaneers in the Divisional Round.
Donald’s postseason production (nine total tackles) is baffling, considering he had five-plus tackles in each of his final eight regular-season games.
On second thought, maybe it’s not so baffling. Because the first order of business for any competent offensive coordinator putting together a game plan against the Rams has to be this: “Don’t let the best defensive lineman since Reggie White wreck the game!” You can be sure Bengals OC Brian Callahan wrote that in bold letters on a white board as soon as Cincy punched its Super Bowl ticket.
Of course, planning and executing are two entirely different things. We saw that three weeks ago, when the Titans manhandled the Bengals’ offensive line. While that O-line was much better against Kansas City in the AFC title game, it’s impossible to believe Donald and the Rams’ fierce front seven won’t wreak havoc on Sunday.
That said, this fact can’t be ignored: Donald has beaten this prop just three times in nine postseason games — and he had exactly five tackles each time. Take the Under and pray Callahan does the smart thing: double-team Donald from start to finish.
Cincinnati Bengals: DE Trey Hendrickson
The prop: Will Trey Hendrickson record a full sack?
The odds: Yes -125/No +105
Trivia time: Which defensive player who will take the field in Super Bowl 56 finished with the most sacks in the regular season?
Nope, not Donald. Nope, not Von Miller. The answer is Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
Trey who?
Hey, we’re shocked, too.
A third-round draft pick by the New Orleans Saints in 2017, Hendrickson has recorded 27.5 sacks over the past two seasons, including a career-high 14 in his first year with Cincinnati. The only game-wreckers who had more sacks in 2021: T.J. Watt, Robert Quinn, Myles Garrett, and Nick Bosa. That’s some esteemed company right there.
Hendrickson has at least one sack in 14 of 20 games this season, including two of Cincinnati’s three postseason contests (one against the Raiders, 1.5 against the Chiefs). Come Sunday, the Florida Atlantic University alum will try to beat a Rams offensive line that’s done a solid job protecting QB Matthew Stafford. Los Angeles tied for the sixth-fewest sacks allowed in the regular season (31).
Then again, Stafford has been sacked in five consecutive games (including twice in the last two playoff outings).
Worth noting: Cincinnati has played seven games against teams that finished the regular season ranked in the top 15 in fewest sacks allowed: Lions, Packers, 49ers, Chargers, Vikings, and Chiefs (twice). Only Minnesota (in the season opener) and Kansas City (in Week 16) kept Hendrickson off their quarterback.
Los Angeles Rams: LB Von Miller
The prop: Will Von Miller record a full sack?
The odds: Yes -150/No +120
The last time we saw Von Miller on grandest of NFL stages, he was throwing Cam Newton around like a ragdoll. In Super Bowl 50 with the Denver Broncos, Miller had six tackles (including 2.5 sacks), two quarterback hits, and two forced fumbles on his way to winning the MVP in a lopsided victory over Carolina.
Two weeks prior to that Super Bowl, Miller also had 2.5 sacks of Tom Brady in the AFC Championship Game. Including that contest, Miller has registered seven sacks in his last five playoff games. The only team to keep Miller at bay during this stretch? The 49ers in the NFC Championship Game two weeks ago.
Miller got off to a slow start with the Rams after Denver traded him to Los Angeles midseason — he went sackless in his first four games, which was part of a seven-game sack drought. From there, though, Miller got his groove back, picking up sacks in six consecutive games (seven in all) before getting shut out against San Francisco.
Just in case you forgot: The Bengals’ offensive line is wee-bit suspect. And their quarterback has been decked 67 times! Only one way to play this one: Lay the juice and take the Over.
Coming later today: Top five Super Bowl place-kicker and punter props.