Cincinnati Bengals have crashed the Super Bowl, after winning a total of just six games over the previous two seasons.
They look to punctuate their stunning turnaround with the franchise's first title, when they battle Los Angeles Rams on Monday (NZ time) in Super Bowl LVI at Inglewood, California.
The Bengals are the fifth team this century to finish last one season and reach the Super Bowl the next.
Progress was expected in coach Zac Taylor's third season at the helm, but few forecast this type of jump for a Cincinnati franchise that hadn't won a playoff game since 1990.
Taylor insists the magical season - 10-7, plus three postseason wins, including an 18-point comeback to beat Kansas City Chiefs in overtime in the AFC Championship Game - isn't a shock.
"It's not really a surprise to us," Taylor says. "There are going to be hard times, while you build a foundation.
"Our guys bought into that and we knew that was going to shape us moving forward. I can't think of any other way to go through this journey than the way we did."
The Bengals will appear in their third Super Bowl, twice losing to San Francisco 49ers, after the 1981 and 1988 seasons.
Playing in their home stadium, the Rams are making their second Super Bowl appearance in four seasons. The franchise is 1-3 in Super Bowls, with the lone victory coming after the 1999 season, when the Rams were housed at St Louis, and Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk were their stars.
Los Angeles also staged a comeback to reach this point, overcoming a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the 49ers in the NFC title game.
When the Rams fell 13-3 to New England Patriots in the 2018 Super Bowl, they appeared out of sync offensively.
Los Angeles coach Sean McVay admits he didn't stick to his scheduled gameplan. Instead, he kept tinkering with things and it created issues.
McVay says he learned from the experience and is trying to keep his players in a normal routine.
"You don't minimise what a great opportunity has been earned by both teams," McVay says. "You want to take in the magnitude of the game, but you don't want to do it to the point where guys are overwhelmed.
"You want to keep a normal rhythm of the routine during the week."
McVay (36) and Taylor (38) comprise the first Super Bowl match-up where both coaches are under 40 years old. Taylor was McVay's assistant at the Rams for two seasons (2017-18), before becoming Bengals coach.
Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford (4886 passing yards, 41 touchdowns, 17 interceptions in the regular season) has enjoyed a solid postseason, with 905 yards, six TDs and one interception.
He is 3-0 in this season's playoffs, after going 0-3 in the postseason over 12 years with Detroit Lions, who traded him to the Rams last offseason.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (4611 yards, 34 touchdowns, 14 interceptions in the regular season) has exceeded expectations in his second NFL campaign, particularly during the team's stellar postseason run. He has thrown for 842 yards, with four TDs and two picks in the playoffs.
"He plays with a lot of swag and a lot of heart, he wants it," says Rams star cornerback Jalen Ramsey. "That's contagious to his teammates and they take on that persona as well.
"Talentwise and skill-set, he has it all. He can make all the throws."
Burrow, who completed an NFL-best 70.4 percent of his passes, identifies maintaining focus as his main objective.
"The team that handles those distractions the best is going to end up winning the game," Burrow says. "You see guys who go their entire career without ever getting to the Super Bowl, so when you do get there, you have to hunker down and take advantage of those opportunities."
Cincinnati rookie wideout Ja'Marr Chase set franchise single-game (266) and single-season receiving-yardage (1455) marks, while Rams counterpart Cooper Kupp led the NFL in receptions (145), receiving yardage (1947) and touchdown catches (16).
Rams star defensive tackle Aaron Donald (12.5 sacks) leads the Los Angeles defense, while Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson (four interceptions, 98 tackles) excelled in his second season.
The Rams will be without a key tightend and the Bengals could be, too. Los Angeles' Tyler Higbee and Cincinnati's CJ Uzomah sustained knee injuries in their respective conference championship games, but while Higbee has been ruled out, Uzomah is considered probable.
The Rams also will be without backup offensive lineman Joe Noteboom (chest).
Reuters
