and McPherson converted a 31-yard field goal to send the Bengals to their first Super Bowl since 1988. Cincinnati's 18-point comeback was tied with the 2006 Indianapolis Colts for the largest in a conference championship. Pre-game notes This was the first Super Bowl to be played on the second Sunday in February, following the adoption of a 17-game schedule in 2021. From the 2003 to 2020 seasons, all Super Bowls were played on the first Sunday in February. The Rams became the first NFL team to have their home stadium host both a conference championship game and the Super Bowl in the same season. However, the Rams were the designated visiting team as the home team alternates between the two conferences annually. Nevertheless, they still used their home locker room. The Bengals used the home locker room of the Los Angeles Chargers, who share the stadium with the Rams. This was the Rams' second Super Bowl in their home market, along with 1979's Super Bowl XIV, which was played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. As the designated home team, the Bengals chose to wear their home black jerseys with white pants. The Rams selected newly unveiled alternate white jerseys with yellow pants. The Bengals were the third team to make the Super Bowl after having the league's worst record two years earlier, following the 1981 San Francisco 49ers and the 2003 Carolina Panthers. With McVay at age 36 and Taylor at age 38, Super Bowl LVI featured the youngest pair of head coaches in Super Bowl history and was the first to have both under 40. They were the two youngest head coaches in the league during the 2021 season. Taylor served on the Rams coaching staff under McVay from 2017 to 2018 and was hired as Cincinnati's head coach after Super Bowl LIII. Whitworth, at age 40, was the first player in a Super Bowl to be older than both head coaches. This was the first Super Bowl in which both starting quarterbacks held career losing records. It was also the second in which both were first overall selections in the NFL Draft, along with Super Bowl 50. Burrow reached the Super Bowl faster than any previous quarterback taken first overall by doing so in his second season. Entertainment Pre-game ceremonies Country singer Mickey Guyton performed "The Star-Spangled Banner", making her the first black female country singer