Bengals Choose to Wear Black Jerseys in 2022 Super Bowl, Putting Crazy Trend on LA’s Side

• The underdog Cincinnati Bengals are opting to wear their dark uniforms in the 2022 Super Bowl against the Los Angeles Rams
• The Bengals are ignoring Super Bowl trends that have seen the team in the white win 14 of the last 17 Super Bowls and 35 of 55 overall
• The Los Angeles Rams are 1-2 in Super Bowl games when they wear their white uniforms

History be damned, trends be trashed, the Cincinnati Bengals are going to the dark side as they prepare to face the Los Angeles Rams in the 2022 Super Bowl.

Even though the Sunday, Feb. 13, game is slated for SoFi Stadium, home of the Rams, Cincinnati is the designated home team. That gave the Bengals the choice of uniform. They’ve chosen to go with their dark colors.

By doing so, the Bengals are also choosing to ignore Super Bowl history, both recent and long term. The team wearing the white uniforms have won 35 of 55 previous Super Bowl games. That includes a streak of 14 wins in the past 17 games.

Rams Are Visitors In Home Stadium

It might seem odd that the Rams are the visiting team in their own stadium but the reason why is quite simple. The NFL alternates home teams for the Super Bowl. In the odd-numbered years, the AFC is the home team. In the even-numbered years, home-field advantage is awarded to the NFC representative in the game.

DEFENDIN' OUR HOUSE. pic.twitter.com/YZVYWT4jUx

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) February 2, 2022

The jersey oddity is just one of many odd Super Bowl trends that bettors can assess when planning a wager on the big game. Which team posted the better regular-season record, who has more previous Super Bowl experience and which team is favored are among other trends studied by NFL bettors.

Though technically they aren’t the home club, the oddsmakers are still leaning toward the Rams in this year’s game. They are favored in the Super Bowl odds.

Dark Jerseys Light On Victories

In the past 17 Super Bowl games, only the Green Bay Packers (45), Philadelphia Eagles (52), and Kansas City Chiefs (54) won while adorned in their dark colors. Of those three teams, only the Eagles were underdogs as Cincinnati is in this year’s Rams vs Bengals betting line.

Super Bowl Uniform Trends

The dark colors got off to a good start when the green-clad Packers beat the Chiefs 35-10 in the first Super Bowl in 1967. The Packers won again in 1968, donning their white duds to whip the Oakland Raiders 33-14.

The Bengals are the fourth team in NFL history to go from winning four or fewer games in one season to appearing in the Super Bowl in the next, joining the 1988 Bengals, 1999 Rams, and 2019 49ers. Will they join the Rams as the only team to go on to win the Super Bowl? pic.twitter.com/elJbqC83rI

— Elias Sports Bureau (@EliasSports) January 31, 2022

Teams wearing the white colors would go on to win seven of the next 10 Super Bowls. It wasn’t until the Pittsburgh Steelers won back-to-back big games in 1979-80 that the squad wearing the dark colors won consecutive Super Bowl games.

This will be the third Super Bowl game played in Los Angeles. That first Super Bowl between Green Bay and Kansas City was played at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, as was the seventh game in 1973. That game saw the Miami Dolphins, adorned in the white uniforms, double Washington 14-7 to complete a perfect 17-0 season.

There’s also another trend hidden inside those two games that might be of interest to Bengals bettors. Each of those wins recorded in LA marked the first Super Bowl title for both the Packers and Dolphins. Cincinnati is 0-2 in previous Super Bowl appearances.

Bengals Have Split The Color Scheme

Had the San Francisco 49ers hung on to their 10-point lead over the Rams in the NFC Championship Game, the Bengals and Niners would be meeting in the Super Bowl for the third time.

In 1982, Cincinnati’s first appearance in the big game, they donned their dark jerseys. The Bengals were 26-21 losers to the 49ers at the Pontiac Silverdome, then home to the Detroit Lions.

In 1989 at Miami’s Joe Robbie Stadium, the Niners drove for a late touchdown to overcome the Bengals 20-16. Cinci was adorned in white unis for this game.

Talk about a glow-up. If you know, you know…#RuleItAll | #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/Xf8zwRw8J5

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) February 2, 2022

What’s most puzzling about Cincinnati’s choice of going with the dark colors is that the Bengals are an impressive 8-2 straight up when donning their mainly white uniforms this season. That streak includes back-to-back road wins at Tennessee (AFC Divisional Round) and Kansas City (AFC Championship Game). Those teams were the top two playoff seeds in the AFC.

The Bengals are just 4-4 in their dark jerseys but have won two in a row in those colors. Perhaps the most surprising part of the decision is that they didn’t opt to outfit themselves in their orange set of colors. In those uniforms, Cincinnati is 3-0 this season.

No matter what color they were to adorn, the public is coloring the Bengals as popular in the NFL public money splits. Cincinnati is drawing 55% of handle and 67% of bets in spread wagering. As far as the moneyline is concerned, there’s 63% of handle and 70% of bets backing Cinci.

Success Is Color Blind For Rams

White or dark, the Rams tend to meet expectations no matter which uniform they don on game day. Los Angeles is a .750 team when they wear their dark uniforms (6-2). However, the Rams are also a .750 team when adorned in their dark colors (9-3).

A couple of factors regarding the Rams may be weighing into the the Bengals decision to go with their dark uniform scheme for the Super Bowl. The Rams are 3-0 in the playoffs and they’ve worn their dark colors for all three victories.

We’re in LA, you know we had to bring the heat for #SBLVI. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/wvwfIWHL1f

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) February 2, 2022

On the other hand, LA’s only loss over the past nine games came against San Francisco in Week 18 while the Rams were outfitted in their dark jerseys.

Although they’ve won nine of 12 in their white colors, the Rams, who are 4-point favorites to win the Super Bowl, did endure a three-game losing streak this season while wearing their white uniforms.

The Rams are 1-2 when wearing white while playing the Super Bowl. They beat Tennessee in 2000 as the St Louis Rams. Losses were suffered against the Patriots (2018) and the Steelers (1980).