I’m sure it would be the same if the Browns were playing, but the AFC North rival Cincinnati Bengals — predictably so — are not getting any respect at all as they get ready to meet the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 56 on Sunday night.

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According to the so-called “experts,” a term I use loosely, the Bengals are mere cannon fodder for the Rams. Though the Rams are favored by just 4 1/2 points, which is up a half-point more than when the line opened nine days ago immediately after the NFC and AFC championship games, but the perception is that the line is way too low.

The Rams have a lot of established stars, while the Bengals have one star in quarterback Joe Burrow and a bunch of young players on the rise.

Though SoFi Stadium is technically a “neutral site,” that’s the Rams’ home venue. Yup, they are playing at home, a place with which they are obviously very familiar.

The Rams nickname carries a lot of cache with it, while “Bengals” does not.

The Rams were last in the Super Bowl three years ago, in 2018, while the Bengals were last in the big game 33 years ago, in 1988. Many of the players in Sunday’s game weren’t even born then. They know of two of the top Bengals players from that team, Boomer Esiason and Chris Collinsworth, only because of their TV work involving NFL games.

L.A., the second-biggest city in the country, is perceived to be one of the coolest places anywhere, while Cincinnati, the third-biggest city in Ohio, is just another locale in the flyover country of the Midwest. If you think tt doesn’t play a subliminal factor, then you’re kidding yourself.

The Rams were supposed to be here. They were built for this. The Bengals weren’t supposed to be here — not even in the playoffs, really — but rather last place in the division. They were set to be rebuilding again this season
It should, instead, be the Kansas City Chiefs playing in the Super Bowl. That was the team everybody had picked to make it out of the AFC.

Add it all up and the Rams, in the minds of many, have a clear edge, on the field and otherwise.

I am not in that camp.

By Steve King