Its never too early to think about Super Bowl winners, as were just one week away from the 2026 season kicking off.
For Chad Ochocinco, he doesnt want to jump the gun too early on his prediction for before he sees how teams start playing in the regular season.
But, if it were up to him, he does have a “storybook” ending to the season he wishes to see happen at SoFi Stadium this upcoming February. And its the same Super Bowl matchup the stadium saw the last time it hosted the Super Bowl.
“For me, my storybook ending would be a rematch of the 2021 Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals again,” Ochocinco told OutKick while highlighting his partnership with DraftKings.
It was quite the battle between these two teams in 2021, as Matthew Stafford and the Rams, who took a big risk landing the veteran quarterback from the Detroit Lions via trade that offseason, came out on top over Joe Burrow and the Bengals.
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Years later, no one couldve predicted that Stafford would be coming off an MVP 2025 NFL season, and even crazier, Aaron Donald would come out of retirement to join Myles Garrett on the Rams defensive line.
“Obviously, for Aaron Donald, I love the story. I love the story of him coming out of retirement,” Ochocinco said. “I like it when you think about that team defensively and when you think about what they have offensively. They already have a high-powered offense. So, you add Aaron Donald coming back, you already have Myles Garrett. You have [cornerback] Trent McDuffie.
“I think everybody would have to get hurt for them to lose. Im just being honest. Its almost unfair the kind of team they have right now, its the kind of team you build, if you play Madden and you play Ultimate Team, thats exactly what the Rams are. Offensively and defensively. So, I dont see them really losing many games. Obviously, youre going to have some games where you fall short. But I see them coming out of the [NFC} West easily.”
But Ochocincos loyalty lies with his Bengals, the team he spent 10 of his 11 NFL seasons with and continues to believe in today.
As someone who never shies away from calling it like it is, Ochocinco loved watching Burrow “being very vocal about not being happy last year and still doing talking this year.” Burrow, in a “cryptic format” as Ochocinco put it, made a point to Bengals management that he doesnt like losing and wants pieces on both sides of the ball to get back to the Super Bowl, which came in just Burrows second season in the NFL.
The Bengals made sure to extend Burrows top receivers, JaMarr Chase and Tee Higgins, while keeping tight end Mike Gesicki in place as well. Coupled with running back Chase Brown and some fortification on the offensive line, Cincinnati has what it needs on offense, which was never really the question.
Could the Bengals defense, a pain point for this club for the last couple seasons, get upgrades to match the offensive firepower Zac Taylors team possesses? On paper, Ochocinco likes what he sees this time around, to the point where he assumes its Super Bowl or bust.
“For my Bengals, its a put-up-or-shut-up year,” he said. “Listen, management has given him everything he needs. You got [JaMarr] Chase, you got Tee [Higgins]. They went and did what they needed to do in the offseason, especially defensively. So, he has to get it done. So, Im assuming this has to be our year.
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