Super Bowl predictions are a little more valid at this point in the offseason now that free agency, the draft, and the schedule release have all happened. The Cincinnati Bengals are emerging as a trendy pick.
Thanks to a vastly upgraded defense, the continuity of all 11 offensive starters returning, and Joe Burrow being in ideal position to stay healthy, Cincinnati should have championship dreams. Or at the very least, a return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2022 campaign.
One of the foremost ESPN personalities has a bold take on who will square off in Super Bowl LX come February, and it's a bit of a mixed bag for Who Dey Nation.
ESPN's Dan Orlovsky projects Bengals to face familiar foe in Super Bowl LX
On Get Up after the NFL schedule release, Dan Orlovsky gave the Bengals some love. However, it wasn't enough to avoid a sadly similar fate to Super Bowl LVI in predicting Cincinnati to lose (again) to the Los Angeles Rams:
"I'm going Bengals-Rams. I feel passionate about the Cincinnati Bengals. I think this offensive line is going to slightly improve. This offense is going to push scoring 30-plus points. Joe stays healthy. And the best team in football last year, arguably, did not win the Super Bowl. I think they'll be back, and I think we get Joe-Stafford; Stafford wins it, and retires."
The panel makes their way too early Super Bowl predictions 🔮@danorlovsky7: Rams 🐏 vs. Bengals 🐅@KyleBrandt: Lions 🦁 vs. Bills 🦬@Hawk: Rams 🐏 vs. Chargers ⚡@PSchrags: N/A ❌ pic.twitter.com/YAwSt1pHPt
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) May 15, 2026
It'd be tragically poetic (or some might say, poetically torturous) for the Bengals to lose the Big Game again to the Rams. Super Bowl LVI's 23-20 defeat still stings to this day.
Reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford lifted the Lombardi Trophy for LA in his first season with the team. The Rams just ran all the way to the NFC Championship Game, only for Stafford's brilliance to be undermined by an even better performance from his Seattle counterpart, Sam Darnold.
Worth noting that Orlovsky is a former NFL QB who was teammates with Stafford in Detroit. There's a certain buddy bias there. That said, the Rams are deserving of Super Bowl favorite status, because they addressed their leaky secondary by acquiring Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson from Kansas City.
Although LA shocked the football world by drafting Ty Simpson in the first round, the other first-rounder was used to trade for McDuffie. So there still is an all-in mentality around this team as much as ever in the Sean McVay-Les Snead era.
But will Stafford's weapons be good enough to go deep in the playoffs and win a second Super Bowl? Puka Nacua has attended the offseason program, yet he was just in rehab. Nacua's mega contract negotiations got a lot more complicated as a result. How wouldn't that be some sort of distraction at the very least?
Meanwhile, Davante Adams is getting pretty long in the tooth (turns 34 in December) and will probably retire after this season.
I disagree with Orlovsky's notion that Stafford will retire, regardless of how this year plays out. He just won MVP, he and McVay get along great, and he clearly has plenty left in the tank.
A Rams-Bengals Super Bowl rematch where Cincinnati exacts revenge — in Los Angeles again, no less — would be even more poetic. And now that the Bengals have an actual defense, a healthy Burrow should be able to deliver the goods no matter who represents the NFC if he reaches the Super Bowl stage again.
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