On Monday night, a Super Bowl rematch will take place.
We are still seven weeks away from the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs square off after the two teams squared up last February for the Vince Lombardi Trophy
However, this week’s matchup is a reunion between the previous Super Bowl between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football in Cincinnati.
When these two teams met at the home site of the Rams, SoFi Stadium, the game came down to a last-minute drive when quarterback Matthew Stafford found wide receiver Cooper Kupp in the end zone with 1:25 left in the fourth quarter, leading to a 23-20 win.
Let’s look at how things have changed between the two tems roughly 19 months after they last played in the big game.
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Super Bowl Quarterbacks remain intact with their squad two years later
Both quarterbacks remain in their same uniforms ahead of Monday’s matchup with Stafford and Bengals play caller Joe Burrow, who recently signed a new contract extension to become the NFL’s highest paid player before Kansas City extended Patrick Mahomes.
However, Burrow remains questionable due to his lingering calf injury he first suffered during training camp.
In that Super Bowl 19 months ago, Burrow completed 22-of-33 for 263 yards and a touchdown, despite being sacked seven times. On the other hand, Stafford, who went on to be the game’s MVP, threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns while completing 26 of his 40 pass attempts. Stafford also threw three interceptions.
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Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Rams starting running backs nearly meet two seasons later
The Super Bowl LVI leading running backs from both sides were about to face off against one other until Los Angeles traded Cam Akers to Minnesota on Wednesday for a 2026 pick swap. On the Bengals side, Joe Mixon remains the Bengals’ top option among the ball carriers. Mixon recorded 15 carries for 72 yards while catching five passes.
The backup running backs are a different story in terms of being on the same team nearly two years later. Behind Akers on the Rams’ Super Bowl roster were Darrell Henderson Jr. and Sony Michel. Michel retired during training camp last month while Henderson is in Jacksonville.
For Cincinnati, Samaje Perine is in Denver this season and Chris Evans is still with the Bengals.
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Most of the pass catchers are still intact with their squads
Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd remain as the Bengals’ top three pass catchers while on the Rams, Kupp and Ben Skowronek remain while Odell Beckham Jr., who was injured in that Super Bowl with a torn ACL, is now in Baltimore.
Higgins caught four passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns on seven targets. Chase added 89 yards on five receptions and Boyd also had five catches for 48 yards in the final game of the 2022 season.
Beckham Jr., who is now in Baltimore, recorded two catches for 52 yard and a touchdown for the Rams. In addition, tight end Brycen Hopkins caught four passes for 47 yards in Los Angeles’ Super Bowl matchup. Hopkins still remains with the Rams behind Tyler Higbee this season.
On Monday, Kupp will not be playing after landing on injured reserve, keeping him out for the first four games of the season due to a hamstring injury.
For the Bengals, C.J. Uzomah was the primary tight end in the Super Bowl, catching both his targets for 11 yards. Uzomah is now playing for the New York Jets.
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Defensive changes, especially for Los Angeles Angeles
Although Aaron Donald is the biggest name among the Rams defense that has remained in the last 19 months, there are others who have remained with Donald in Southern California.
Defensive lineman Bobby Brown III, who was in his rookie season as the Rams won the Super Bowl, is still with the Rams playing alongside Donald.
Those are the only two Rams defenders who are still with the team as others have moved on to other teams. Cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Terrell Burgess are with Miami and Washington, respectively, or have retired like safety Eric Weddle.
On the other hand, it is a different story in Cincinnati.
There are four players who remain in a Bengals uniform since the run to the Super Bowl.
Cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie and Mike Hilton lead the way for the Cincinnati defense. Against the Rams last time in the big game, Awuzie and Hilton combined for nine total tackles as Awuzie also added a pass deflection.
In addition, defensive end Trey Hendrickson also remains in Cincinnati. In the Super Bowl, Hendrickson recorded two tackles and a sack while linebacker Markus Bailey recorded a tackle.
Evan McPherson the only specialist to remain in same uniform
Among the two punters and two kickers since the Super Bowl two years ago, only kicker Evan McPherson is the only specialist to remain on either side as punter Johnny Hekker is in Carolina and punter Kevin Huber retired last season.