Even Hollywood’s top scriptwriters couldn’t concoct a better set-up for Super Bowl LVI, which sees America’s biggest sporting event return to La La Land for the first time since 1993.

The nation’s second-largest media market was without an NFL team for more than two decades after that game, following the departure of the Raiders and Rams, so you better believe the league is ecstatic to now see the hometown Rams, who returned to LA in 2016, playing in their newly-built US$6 billion stadium.

It’s just the second time in league history the home team has made the Big Dance, with the first coming last season when Tom Brady and the Buccaneers won it all in Tampa.

Of course, the upstart Cincinnati Bengals will have plenty to say about that, coming in as year-long underdogs who are essentially playing with house money now as they chase the franchise’s first title.

Tinseltown has given us so many big-screen fairy tales over the years. Will it deliver one on the gridiron?

THE QUARTERBACKS

JOE BURROW (Bengals)

The second-year passer blew out his ACL during a promising rookie season, but has rebounded in a big way as a bona fide franchise culture-changer, who led the league in the rare double of completion percentage and yards per attempt.

Perhaps most importantly here, Burrow’s record as a clutch performer in big moments is insane, with the young gun boasting a title-game winning streak that dates back to high school.

MATTHEW STAFFORD (Rams)

Stafford spent the first 12 seasons of his career with the lowly Lions, before being acquired by the Rams last off-season in a blockbuster trade.

Over the years, many have said the former No.1 pick would be winning Super Bowls if only he played for a better team, and now he has to prove them right after a season in which he equalled a career high in touchdowns.

But he also led the league in interceptions, and this game will hinge on whether the QB avoids back-breaking turnovers, after he narrowly avoided one in the NFC title win over the 49ers.

The Rams are undefeated this season (11-0) when he has a passer rating over 100.

THE COACHES

ZAC TAYLOR (Bengals)

The Bengals hiring former Rams quarterback coach Zac Taylor in 2019 perpetuated the joke that merely having a coffee with Sean McVay was enough to land a head coaching gig.

Taylor went 6-25-1 in his first two seasons and is now in the Super Bowl, so who’s laughing now?

That said, pundits still question Taylor’s fitness for the job, mostly because of his inability to protect Burrow from taking hits (the QB took a league high 51 sacks this season).

SEAN MCVAY (Rams)

As previously stated, McVay is so highly regarded as an offensive genius that three of his former assistants are now head coaches elsewhere, and another is odds-on to get a gig after the Super Bowl.

Amazingly, at 36, McVay is still two years younger than his former protege on the other sideline.

But, for all the hype around this scheme-lord, McVay has a huge black stain on his resume – only scoring three points in a 13-3 Super Bowl loss to the Patriots in 2018.

Will his desire to expunge that memory lead him to take chances that play into the Bengals’ hands?

OFFENCE

BENGALS

In the regular season, the Bengals offence leaned on the otherworldly connection between Burrow and his former college teammate Ja’Marr Chase, with the wideout hauling in a rookie record 1455 yards and 13 TDs, en route to winning Offensive Rookie of the Year honours.

But the Rams can’t sleep on Chase’s fellow receivers Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, who together make up one of the best groups in the NFL, and will ensure no deficit is too large for a bombs-away attack that came back from 18 points down against the Chiefs to win the AFC title match.

RAMS

Stafford might hold the keys to the Rams offence but Cooper Kupp is the engine that makes it run.

The receiver won the triple crown this season, leading the league in yards, catches and TDs, and dominates despite being the No.1 focus of the defence every week.

Even if you can limit Kupp – six catches, 90 yards and one TD would be a win for the Bengals – the defence still has to contend with a bloke you may have heard of: Odell Beckham Jr (more on that in X-Factors).

DEFENCE

BENGALS

Cinci doesn’t have a star-studded defence, but it’s a selfless, opportunistic group that cracked the top 5 this season in points allowed (19.7).

The Bengals have been able to get pressure on opposing QBs without blitzing, which is a good thing given how effective Rams passer Stafford has been against the blitz this season.

With a solid secondary that knows how to hunt the ball, the strategy will be to drop players into coverage and force the Rams to nickel-and-dime their way down the field in the hope it leads to a Stafford mistake.

RAMS

Unlike their opponents, LA boasts some of the biggest defensive stars in the NFL, from D-lineman Aaron Donald, who’s arguably the best player in the sport, to All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey and mid-season acquisition Von Miller.

Miller, Donald and outside linebacker Leonard Floyd will feast on a Bengals offensive line that has allowed 12 sacks this postseason, including nine in one game against the Titans.

But the key match-up here will be Ramsey versus Chase, with the outcome of that battle shaping the strategies of both teams as the game unfolds.

X-FACTORS

BENGALS

Other than Burrow, who’s the game’s ultimate X-factor, success for the Bengals might depend on contributions from two players: Slot receiver Tyler Boyd and running back Joe Mixon.

If Ramsey erases Chase, and that Rams pass rush heats up, Burrow will need to get the ball out fast.

That means targets for Boyd in the slot and Mixon in the screen game, as well as carries for the RB to keep the rush honest.

RAMS

OBJ. The mercurial wideout shot his way out of Cleveland this season and now has a shot at a Super Bowl ring.

He could earn it, too, with the Bengals focus on stopping Kupp almost guaranteed to give Beckham the sort of single coverage he typically cuts to ribbons.

WHO WILL WIN

The Rams are the superior team, on paper at least, but it’s impossible to dismiss the confidence Burrow and the Bengals are paying with right now.

If it’s a one-score game as the clock winds down, bet the house on the clutch QB in the tiger-striped helmet (and his equally clutch rookie kicker Evan McPherson), otherwise you have to think McVay finds a way to exorcise his Super Bowl demons.

Rams 27-20. MVP: Aaron Donald

HALFTIME SHOW

This year’s show is a tribute to Compton hip-hop royalty Dr Dre, who will perform with artists he helped turn into superstars: Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige and Eminem.

It’s one of the most eagerly anticipated halftime shows in years.

HOW TO WATCH

Bengals @ Rams, Monday, 7am-1pm, 7mate