{"id":33549,"date":"2022-10-12T11:29:30","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T15:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=33549"},"modified":"2022-10-12T11:29:30","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T15:29:30","slug":"the-two-minute-drill-the-super-bowl-hangover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2022\/10\/12\/the-two-minute-drill-the-super-bowl-hangover\/","title":{"rendered":"The Two-Minute Drill: The Super Bowl Hangover"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brendan Nordstrom<\/em><\/p>\n

Most everyone has been there. The sun is just a little too bright. Your head feels like a five-year-old\u2019s drum set. You are trying to connect bits and pieces of last night together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For NFL teams, this feeling is all too familiar. The Super Bowl Hangover is a phenomenon that has teams from the Super Bowl waking up a bit groggy in the following season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Only <\/span>eight losing teams<\/span><\/a> in the Super Bowl era have returned to the Super Bowl the following year. In fact, three teams in the past decade \u2013 the 2016 Panthers, 2019 Rams and 2020 49ers \u2013 have lost and did not even return to the postseason. <\/span>According to sportingnews.com<\/span><\/a>, both Super Bowl teams fail to make the postseason 9.6% of the time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Just look at some of the Super Bowl teams in recent years. The Panthers, Seahawks and Falcons not only haven\u2019t made it back, but are also at the bottom of their conferences. The Eagles, Broncos and Giants haven\u2019t been very relevant since their respective appearances on Super Bowl Sunday, but are starting to work their way back. The bottom line is that sustained success in the NFL is nearly impossible to do, with the exception of <\/span>the New England Patriots<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last season\u2019s Super Bowl was not exactly the most predictable two teams either.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Rams, a team that was recently featured in the 2019 Super Bowl, made some crucial \u201cwin-now\u201d moves, such as acquiring quarterback Matthew Stafford, receiver Odell Beckham Jr and linebacker Von Miller. Therefore, it is no surprise that this super team emerged out of the ashes of a weak NFC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The AFC, on the other hand, was a battleground. The Bills looked to make noise with Josh Allen, the Chiefs wanted to return to the promised land and the Titans showed promise. Not many expected the Bengals’ orange and black stripes to appear on SoFi Stadium\u2019s endzone on February 13.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the actual Super Bowl contest, Cooper Kupp\u2019s late touchdown lifted the Rams over the Bengals in a 23-20 thriller. Following an offseason that shook up the NFL, both teams are trying to avoid one thing: the Super Bowl Hangover.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether or not the Super Bowl Hangover is real, to say both teams from Super Bowl LVI are struggling would be an understatement. This is particularly strange considering both teams remained more or less the same in regard to their roster.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rams suffered four \u201cbig\u201d losses \u2013 Beckham, Miller, tackle Andrew Whitworth and receiver Robert Woods. Ultimately, the core of Stafford, Kupp and defensive lineman Aaron Donald remained, which is enough to contend. The Rams even added receiver Allen Robinson in free agency, and running back Cam Akers returned from an Achilles tear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, nothing seems to be working for last season\u2019s World Champions. The team kicked off the 2022 NFL season against the Buffalo Bills and lost. Badly. Following the 31-10 defeat, the Rams bounced back against the rebuilding Atlanta Falcons and the Arizona Cardinals. However, that\u2019s where their luck ran out. Their main competition for the division this season is the 49ers, who dominated their California counterpart 24-9. This past week, Cooper Rush\u2019s Dallas Cowboys won 22-10.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This 2-3 start is discouraging for LA fans. Stafford looks like a shell of his usual self with seven interceptions, <\/span>tied for the most in the league<\/span><\/a>, and a 48.0 QBR. The O-line looks significantly weaker, allowing their signal-caller to take 21 sacks, which is also <\/span>tied for the most in the league<\/span><\/a>. Akers has disappointed in his few touches, including only one touchdown and 3.0 yards per carry. Also, Robinson has essentially been a non-factor with only 12 receptions and just over 100 yards.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the Rams are technically tied for second in the NFC West, it will take a quick turnaround and a lot of fixed problems to emerge successful. The good news is that with the amount of talent the team possesses and with how open the NFC is, the Rams are far from out of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the bitter end of last February\u2019s contest is Cincinnati. The Bengals did not lose anyone significant in the offseason. On paper, the Bengals only improved. Following a two-win and a four-win season, Cincinnati made the near-impossible jump to the Super Bowl last year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem, however, can be traced back to the 2021 draft. The Bengals took receiver Ja\u2019Marr Chase instead of fixing their glaring problem area \u2013 the O-line. Penei Sewell, the top offensive lineman from the class, slipped through to Detroit. Chase became a reliable target, and his 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns no doubt helped the Bengals to the big stage. However, <\/span>Burrow endured a league-leading 51 sacks<\/span><\/a>, which ultimately cost Cincinnati a ring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This offseason, the Bengals attempted to remedy this issue by picking up linemen La\u2019el Collins, Alex Cappa and Ted Karras in free agency. Collins even famously <\/span>told Burrow<\/span><\/a>, \u201cYour new bodyguard is in town.\u201d The numbers would show otherwise. Burrow has been sacked 18 times through five games, including back-to-back games of being sacked six or more times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The opening week Steelers matchup ended in an overtime loss for the defending AFC champions. The Bengals fell the following week to the aforementioned Cooper Rush-Cowboys, and lost to the divisional rival Baltimore Ravens last weekend. The 2-3 start is equally disappointing, and with the AFC North\u2019s strengths, the Bengals need to turn it around quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the average person can\u2019t just lie down and recover when dealing with a hangover. At some point they need to get up, persevere through the pain and return to their daily life. NFL teams are no different. The Rams and Bengals can lay down and let themselves be trampled by the league like they are right now, or they can get up and fight to reclaim their place at the top of the NFL.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brendan Nordstrom Most everyone has been there. The sun is just a little too bright. Your head feels like a five-year-old\u2019s drum set. You are trying to connect bits and pieces of last night together.\u00a0 For NFL teams, this feeling is all too familiar. The Super Bowl Hangover is a phenomenon that has teams […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19990,"featured_media":33557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33549"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19990"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33549"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33551,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33549\/revisions\/33551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}