The NFL officially is neutral in its rooting interests, but the suits in the league office want the biggest game of the year to be fun to watch, right?
A potential Super Bowl LIII matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams represents a rare opportunity for the NFL to showcase its highest-scoring teams on its biggest stage. The Chiefs scored an NFL-high 565 points during the regular season, and the Rams were second-best in that category with 527. If they win their respective conference-championship games Sunday, Super Bowl LIII might be a once-in-a-generation spectacle.
“With victories by the Rams and Chiefs on Sunday, the Super Bowl would feature the two highest-scoring teams from the regular season for the fifth time since 1970 and the first time since 1997,” reads an NFL news release.
Those five meetings produced plenty of points, with the winner scoring an average of 35.25 points and the loser putting up 21.25 per game:
San Francisco 49ers 38, Miami Dolphins 16 in Super Bowl XIX
Washington Redskins 37, Buffalo Bills 24 in Super Bowl XXVI
Green Bay Packers 35, New England Patriots 21 in Super Bowl XXXI
Denver Broncos 31, Green Bay Packers 24 in Super Bowl XXXII
Entertainment value isn’t entirely dictated by how many points are scored, but it helps.
No one soon will forget the Week 11 meeting between the Rams and Chiefs, as Los Angeles beat Kansas City, 54-51, in one of the most entertaining games of the season. But a rematch in the Super Bowl is no given.
The Chiefs will host the New England Patriots on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game, and the Rams will visit the New Orleans Saints later in the day in the NFC Championship Game.
