The Super Bowl Report: How can the Bengals stop Cooper Kupp?

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Jeff Miller: By now everyone is more than familiar with Cooper Kupp, the Rams’ triple-crown-winning wide receiver with the seemingly innate ability to go uncovered.

Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor, however, knew Kupp before most everyone else did, back in the receiver’s Eastern Washington days.

Taylor, who spent two seasons on the Rams’ coaching staff, threw passes to Kupp during a private workout before the 2017 draft. There was only one incompletion that day, Taylor noted, because of an overthrow.

Recalling their time together in Los Angeles, Taylor praised Kupp’s celebrated intellect.

“You’d wake up to a midnight text from Cooper Kupp with thoughts on things that could help the offense,” Taylor said. “He’s certainly rare that way.”

Now Taylor must find an answer for Kupp in order to prevent him from turning the game Sunday into the Super Cooper show.

Good luck, Coach.

Including the playoffs, Kupp has topped 100 yards receiving 13 times and been held under 92 yards just twice in 20 games. When he has scored a touchdown this season, the Rams are 13-1.

The obvious move when trying to neutralize a potential game-destroying receiver is to employ a double team. But the Rams, fully aware of that fact, position Kupp all over the field to often take that option away.

“It’s hard to just say, ‘I’m going to play Cover 1 and double Cooper Kupp,’ ” said former NFL coach Steve Mariucci. “They move him around in the formation to make that difficult. But you have to give help somehow. I wouldn’t single him often, I know that.”

Now an analyst for the NFL Network, Mariucci said the Bengals will have to tailor their scheme to try to funnel Kupp toward the middle of the field, where there typically are more bodies.

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Cooper Kupp named top offensive player; Andrew Whitworth wins Walter Payton award

OBJ DIDN’T NEED REDEEMING

From LZ Granderson: When I was a columnist for ESPN’s Page 2 back in 2006, 87% of the nation’s sports reporters, 90% of columnists and 95% of editors were white, according to the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. At that time, the NFL was 67% Black, the NBA 75%. So coverage of the most popular, and Blackest, sports was largely being done without Black voices — I’d call that “mansplaining adjacent.”

And it shaped how we think about some of the most famous Black Americans. I’m reminded of my own initial trepidation about doing a morning radio show with Keyshawn Johnson, a retired wide receiver whose reputation in the press was dominated by jokes like “throw me the damn ball” and “Me-Shawn.” It wasn’t until we started working together that I learned about his involvement in the Chesterfield Square neighborhood of Los Angeles, his support for LGBTQ rights and his other political activity. Nope, all I knew was what the news media told me, which was unflattering and fell far short of capturing a Black man trying to adapt to the changes in his socioeconomic status while also trying to defend his sense of self and self-worth. Who made the decisions about what we should talk more about?

Maybe that “Me-Shawn” rap was well deserved, but maybe it wasn’t. Perhaps the nickname was just a good bit that took on a life of its own because there wasn’t anyone in the newsroom to challenge it with a different perspective.

I recently went back to read some of the headlines about Odell Beckham Jr., who came to the Rams with a questionable reputation. That narrative has shifted a bit, and I’m left wondering why he was ever smeared. He came to L.A. already a three-time Pro Bowler, and the only marks on his record were minor, like reports that he punched a wall after a loss. He’s had three surgeries in four years, but I’ve never heard anyone question his work ethic or talent.

Did he seek attention? Sure, he did. But wanting fame doesn’t make one a bad person. Is it possible that OBJ was never a bad guy, and just got caught up in some drama as he left the Giants and the Browns?

EXPECT MORE SUPER BOWLS IN L.A.

New Orleans and Miami have become almost synonymous with the Super Bowl over the years. And now that SoFi Stadium is ready to host the big game, Los Angeles may finally re-join the ranks of the country’s elite football cities.

Half of the 56 Super Bowl games have been played in just three metropolitan areas. Miami has hosted the most with 11 games, followed by New Orleans’ 10. The Los Angeles area’s total is third with seven — that is until the Cincinnati Bengals meet the Rams at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

Super Bowl LVI marks the end of a 29-year Super Bowl drought in the region.

After the first Super Bowl was held at the Coliseum in 1967, Los Angeles hosted six more games through 1993, with all but one taking place at the Rose Bowl. In that period, Los Angeles tied with New Orleans for the record of most times hosting the competition, seven times each.

By the start of the 1995 season, both the Raiders and the Rams had left Los Angeles, rendering the city ineligible to host a Super Bowl. Because one less city was able to bid, teams in cities like Phoenix, Dallas and Indianapolis were able to host for the first time.

USC STAR MAKES HALL OF FAME

From Mike DiGiovanna: The sixth time was a charm for Tony Boselli, the former USC standout and three-time All-Pro left tackle who will be the first Jacksonville Jaguars player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Boselli, a Hall finalist in each of the last five years, was announced as a member of the 2022 class during Thursday night’s NFL Honors program in the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park.

A mammoth 6-foot-7 and 324 pounds as a player, Boselli will be inducted in a Canton, Ohio, ceremony this summer along with defensive linemen Bryant Young and Richard Seymour, defensive back LeRoy Butler, linebacker Sam Mills, receiver Cliff Branch, coach Dick Vermeil and official Art McNally.

MEET JOE BURROW

From Jeff Miller: He dribbled an imaginary basketball around the room before taking aim at a hoop only he could see.

The 6-year-old — in his unbridled, joyous world — was an NBA legend.

“LeBron James!” he squealed.

“That’s when it hit me,” said Nathan White, Joe Burrow’s offensive coordinator in high school, recounting watching his little boy, Sam. “For the next 15 years, on playgrounds and in backyards across this country, there are going to be little kids pretending to be Joe Burrow.

“You know, we like to say Joe’s just a kid from southeast Ohio. But he’s not anymore. He’s one of the mythical people in the NFL to a child. Of all this stuff happening right now, that’s what I can’t believe.”

This is where the road started for Burrow, the road that makes its next stop at SoFi Stadium for Super Bowl LVI on Sunday when he leads the Cincinnati Bengals against the Rams.

Before he was Cincinnati’s young, ceiling-smashing quarterback, Burrow was leading Athens High football to heights unseen in the rural reaches of the Appalachian foothills.

In his three varsity seasons, he threw for 157 touchdowns and 6½ miles while the Bulldogs went 37-4 and won eight times in the playoffs. In the rest of the school’s history, there have been zero playoff wins.

In one game, his offense opened a 77-0 lead — by halftime. And that wasn’t the night Athens ran 25 plays through the first two quarters and scored touchdowns on nine of them. As a senior, Burrow was named the state’s Mr. Football.

SUPER BOWL ADS

From Nardine Saad: The stars are still coming out for the Super Bowl ... well, at least for its commercials.

Advertisers, who pay a pretty penny for those coveted ad spots during the big game, are at it again with a constellation of stars making Super Bowl ad appearances.

And there are plenty of A-listers peddling goods and services this year, including Scarlett Johansson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eugene Levy and a “very hittable” Pete Davidson. Lindsay Lohan even tries to get back in the game with an ad for Planet Fitness.

NBC will broadcast Sunday’s football game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

BEST PRO FOOTBALL TEAM TOURNAMENT

Just for fun, over the next two weeks we will be running a tournament to determine the best Super Bowl/NFL/AFL champion of all time. The teams have been seeded 1-64 (using a combination of regular season record, regular season point differential and playoff point differential) and put into four regions, just like the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Using the Second And Ten computer game, we will run the games to determine the best team of them all. Since there are only 55 Super Bowl winning teams, we chose nine teams from before the Super Bowl era to compete, all champions of either the NFL or the AFL. They are: 1950 Cleveland Browns, 1951 Los Angeles Rams, 1953 Detroit Lions, 1960 Philadelphia Eagles, 1961 Houston Oilers, 1962 Green Bay Packers, 1963 San Diego Chargers, 1963 Chicago Bears and the 1964 Buffalo Bills.

We continue with the semifinals and finals of the Walter Payton region:

Semifinals

No. 1 1984 San Francisco 49ers d. No. 13 1987 Washington Redskins, 16-7
Joe Montana passed for 381 yards and a touchdown, with 123 of those yards and the touchdown going to Freddie Solomon.

No. 15 1967 Green Bay Packers d. No. 11 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-7
Terry Bradshaw had a disastrous game, going seven of 24 with five interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

Final

1984 San Francisco 49ers d. 1967 Green Bay Packers, 21-10
Wendell Tyler rushed for 123 yards and Joe Montana threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter.

The 1984 San Francisco 49ers advance to the Final Four, where they will face the 1985 Chicago Bears.

Tomorrow: The semifinals and finals of the John Madden region. The teams:

No. 1 1976 Oakland Raiders vs. No. 13 1983 Los Angeles Raiders
No. 7 1999 St. Louis Rams vs. 1989 San Francisco 49ers

ROAD CLOSURES AROUND SoFi STADIUM

Already closed

—Yukon Avenue is closed to the general public from Century Boulevard to Stadium Drive from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

—Stadium Drive is closed to the general public from South Doty Avenue to the entrance of the Panhandle Lot from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.

—Prairie Avenue will have fewer open lanes from Victory Street to Touchdown Drive from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Starting Sunday

—Prairie Avenue’s northbound lanes will be closed from Century Boulevard to Arbor Vitae Street from 1 a.m. Sunday until Monday at 2 a.m. Also, its northbound lanes from W. 106th Street to Century Boulevard will be closed from 2 p.m. to Monday at 2 a.m.

—Century Boulevard will have lane closures in both directions from Yukon Avenue to Airport Boulevard from 7 a.m. until Monday at 2 a.m.

—98th Street will have its curb lane closed for about one block from Bellanca Avenue west from 7 a.m. to Monday at 2 a.m.

—Pincay Drive will be closed from Prairie Avenue to Kareem Court from 1 a.m. Sunday until Monday at 2 a.m. During the same period, the eastbound lane of Prairie Avenue will be open only to local traffic from Kareem Court to Crenshaw Boulevard.

—Kareem Court will be open only to rideshare vehicles from Manchester Avenue to Pincay Drive from 10 a.m. to Monday at 1 a.m.

—Manchester Boulevard’s eastbound lane from Prairie Avenue to Crenshaw Boulevard will be open only to local traffic from 4 p.m. Sunday to Monday at 2 a.m.

SUPER BOWL: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Super Bowl Sunday
Feb. 13
at SoFi Stadium, Inglewood

Rams vs. Cincinnati, 3:30 p.m. PT, Rams favored by 4 points

TV: NBC and Telemundo.
Radio: Westwood One radio (AM 570 in Los Angeles), SiriusXM NFL Radio, NFL GamePass.
Streaming: NFL app (iOS, Android), Peacock app (iOS, Android), Telemundo app (iOS, Android), Yahoo Sports

To buy tickets (after mortgaging your house to afford them): Ticketmaster, OnLocation, HOFExperiences, VividSeats, SeatGeek

Halftime show: Recording artists Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar are scheduled to perform in the Super Bowl halftime show. The NFL has yet to announce who will sing the national anthem before the game.

Coronavirus guidelines if you attend: Under Los Angeles County’s coronavirus health and safety guidelines, all fans in attendance must be vaccinated. Fans attending the game will be required to wear masks and will be given KN95 masks. For further coronavirus rules and guidelines, click here.

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE FOOTBALL PLAYER?

I asked you to send me the name of you favorite football player and why, and I was deluged with answers. Answers will be printed starting today. Keep sending them in by emailing me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. Include a couple of sentences explaining why that player is your favorite. It’s your chance to be read by the tens of thousands of people who subscribe.

John D. Hatch of Carson City: My favorite player is Cosmo Iacavazzi. He played only two pro games for the NY Jets in 1965. But I just love to say his name.

Max Fraley: His name was Otto Graham, his team was the NFL champion Cleveland Browns and he was the Browns quarterback in the late 40’s and early 50’s. I was a young boy with little knowledge of pro football. When visiting my grandparents near Hollansburg, Ohio, two of my uncles would drive us in to a small restaurant in the small village town that had the only TV in town, a small black and white Philco TV which the owner of the site would place high on a counter so all the pedestrian spectators could see. We would take chairs from the eating tables, sit them in a theater type format and proceed to watch the game. There was usually a dozen or so who came to see the game. Otto Graham was the bonafide leader of the Browns who were coached by a football god, Paul Brown. On the field Graham had another All-Pro in a powerful running back named Marion Motley who was hell on wheels to the defensive linemen.

Wesley McAmis: Kurt Warner, After moving to Springfield, Mo., from Los Angeles and longing to still see the Rams play he brought the Rams a Super Bowl championship.

SUPER BOWL POLLS

Two Super Bowl polls for you to vote in: Which team will win, and who will be named the game’s MVP? Click here to vote. Results will be announced on Super Bowl Sunday.

And finally

Highlights from Super Bowl XLI (Colts vs. Bears). Watch and listen here.

Highlights from Super Bowl XLII (Giants vs. Patriots). Watch and listen here.

Highlights from Super Bowl XLIII (Steelers vs. Cardinals). Watch and listen here.

Highlights from Super Bowl XLIV (Saints vs. Colts). Watch and listen here.