Getty Aaron Donald shares a hug following the Rams' NFC title game victory on Sunday, January 30.
It’s officially Super Bowl week. And it’s the time of year when fans, media and ex-NFL players finally get down to deciding who really is the better team over the other and in this case, figuring out if it’s the Los Angeles Rams or the Cincinnati Bengals who will put their fingers on the Vince Lombardi trophy.
Super Bowl chatter has filled online sites, during morning sports shows and have dominated the radio airwaves nationwide.
Happy #SuperBowl Week!
But when it comes to picking the brain of someone who is breaking down this Super Bowl matchup, plus wanting a definitive answer on who will win this latest installment of the big game, who better than to chat with a man who knows a thing or two about playing and winning a Super Bowl? Let alone three?
Mark Schlereth, NFL analyst and three-time Super Bowl winner with Washington and Denver, spoke with Heavy about Super Bowl 56.
Schlereth: ‘I’m Going to Pick Against Them Again’
The former two-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman, who can now be heard on 104.3 FM The Fan in Denver, took the timeout from his schedule to chat with Heavy about the upcoming final NFL heavyweight battle set for Sunday, February 13 at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium.
He’s a triple owner of Super Bowl rings from 1991 with the Commanders then helping lead the Broncos to their first two championships in 1997 and 1998. Lately, Schlereth has become known among the “Who Dey” nation for picking against the AFC champions all year long.
Congratulations @Bengals crazy comeback!
While he admits he’s been off on his predictions for the Bengals, here’s what he told Heavy.
“I’ve been picking against Cincinnati all year and it hasn’t been going well for me,” Schlereth said. “But I’m going to pick against them again. I think the Rams are a better football team.”
Record wise, the Rams are the better franchise at 15-5 overall compared to the Bengals’ 13-7. In the process, the Rams have taken down the following teams: An Arizona Cardinals team that handed them their worst home loss of the regular season, a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that was the defending Super Bowl champions and, in the NFC title game, edging a San Francisco 49ers team that had beaten the Rams six straight times.
There’s more to the story. #SBLVI
But the Bengals have been on their own rampage. They got here by holding off the Las Vegas Raiders (a franchise they never previously defeated in the postseason), upsetting the conference’s top seed the Tennessee Titans and rallying back to beat a Kansas City Chiefs team that not only had won the previous two AFC championships, but once led the Bengals 21-3 before falling in overtime.
#RuleTheJungle
Rule The North
Rule The AFC
#RuleItAll
📺: #SuperBowl – 2/13 on NBC
Still, the former guard and center is a believer in the Rams over the Bengals.
Schlereth has Believed in the Rams Before
Schlereth even believed that in February 2019, they entered that Super Bowl versus the New England Patriots looking like the more superior team.
But that Rams team led by head coach Sean McVay, Aaron Donald, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and past Rams Todd Gurley and Jared Goff fell 13-3 to the Pats. Still, Schlereth believed in the Rams then…and has the belief they’ve learned from their recent trip.
“They were there a few years ago, I think there’s a little bit of merit that you learn from your past mistakes,” Schlereth said.
And that’s why Schlereth says: “I’ll take the Rams, like I said, I think they’re a little more of a complete football team. I think defensively they have all three levels of their defense, they have superstars.”