Pete Prisco’s Super Bowl 2022 pick: Matthew Stafford, Joe Burrow light up scoreboard in Bengals-Rams thriller

LOS ANGELES — The two NFL championship games were good to me. I went 2-0 with my ATS picks, 0-2 straight up, but was a torrid 4-1 with my Best Bets.

That raises my ATS record to 149-132-3, my straight-up record drops to 175-108-1 and my Best Bets record for the season is now 69-60.

That 69-60 tops the Pick-Six Podcast group, but I won’t finish first in either of the other two categories. But the interesting thing about the Super Bowl is that my colleague, Will Brinson, has a chance to tie me in the CBS Sports Expert Picks standings.

Brinson trails by one game after a nice late-season rally. That means the Super Bowl will decide whether he ties or loses.

Since I know his pick is the Rams, I could have picked them and assured myself of victory. Could I do that? Will I do that?

Read on.

On paper, the stars play for the Rams, so it should be an easy pick. It’s always stars that win, big games, right?

Not this time.

There is something special about this Bengals team. Before the 2021 season, former Saints coach Sean Payton mentioned to me that there is something to be said about a team getting on a roll at the right time as the formula to win a Super Bowl.

It happened last year with the Bucs.

It’s going to happen this year with the Bengals.

Sportsline’s Props Guide to the Super Bowl features nearly 100 prop picks from the coin toss to the MVP, plus analysis, historical trends and more to give you an edge on your picks. Sign up for free to have the guide delivered straight to your inbox today.

The Rams, like the Bengals, came into the postseason as a No. 4 seed, so they are on a little run as well. But they won their way into the Super Bowl on their home field, while the Bengals won on the road.

That makes the Bengals on more of a roll. Plus, who saw this coming, while the Rams built a dream team?

The key to the game will be how the Bengals handle the Rams defensive front. Can…