By Vikram Bansal
Talon Staff
A fantastic NFL season has finally come to an end, and for the second year in a row the team hosting the Super Bowl was victorious on their home field. As the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Let’s take a look at how this all happened.
The Bengals won the coin toss and deferred, meaning the Rams would start with the ball to begin the game. After a Rams punt and a turnover on downs by the Bengals at midfield, the Rams offense arrived.
A six-play, 50-yard touchdown drive ended with Rams QB Matthew Stafford hitting Odell Beckham Jr. in the endzone for a 17-yard score to go up 7-0.
Both teams exchanged punts before Bengals QB Joe Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase for a 46-yard pass over Jalen Ramsey to set up the Bengals deep in L.A. territory. However, the drive stalled out and they had to settle for three.
The Rams drove down the field again for an 11-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp, set up by a huge 35-yard catch-and-run by Beckham on 3rd-and-10. The extra point was botched, leaving the Rams with a 13-3 lead.
Needing a score to keep the game in reach, the Bengals orchestrated a 12-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a touchdown pass to Tee Higgins by running-back Joe Mixon on a trick-play.
The Rams still led 13-10, but their momentum was starting to falter. And the loss of Beckham Jr. due to a torn ACL and a Stafford “arm punt” interception on 3rd-and-long were lowlights for the home team as both teams headed to their locker rooms.
The Bengals came out on a mission, as Burrow hit Tee Higgins deep for a 75-yard touchdown strike on the first play of the second half. (Admittedly, Higgins got away with offensive pass interference when he clearly pushed Jalen Ramsey’s facemask allowing him to haul in Burrow’s bomb.) Then Stafford had a ball go in and out of his receiver’s hands and into the outstretched arms of Bengals defender Chidobe Awuzie.
At this point, Cincinnati seemed to had all the momentum and an opportunity to put the game away.
The Bengals were able to get a first down and were set up for another scoring opportunity, but All-Pro defensive lineman Aaron Donald came up with a huge third-down sack for the Rams and forced Cincy to settle for three, putting them up 20-13.
The Rams drove 50 yards in 12 plays but the drive fizzled out just outside the Bengals 20-yard line and they had to settle for a field goal to make it a 20-16 ballgame.
Each team then punted three times, but the hits were starting to mount on Burrow as he would be sacked for the eighth time on a drive after which he gingerly walked off the field. Still, the Bengals had a chance to drain some of the clock and score some points, but Tyler Boyd dropped an easy pass on 3rd-and-9, a play that was eerily reminiscent of when New England Patriots slot receiver Wes Welker dropped an easy catch that would have set up a drive in Giants territory with New York having only a single timeout left in Super Bowl XLVI.
The Giants went on to win that game 21-17 (but you know that) and so did the Rams.
Los Angeles had the ball with just over six minutes left and the length of the field to go. And Stafford and Co. did what they have done this entire postseason: perform under pressure.
The Rams drove 72 yards in seven plays and were set up with 3rd-and-goal at the 8-yard line when finally, we saw the referees become problematic again. Stafford fired a pass to Cooper Kupp that was batted away by Cincinnati linebacker Logan Wilson. However, a questionable holding foul was called on Wilson which led to a 1-yard touchdown pass to Super Bowl MVP Kupp with just under 90 seconds left to make it 23-20, Rams.
As the clock ticked down, a beleaguered Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase for a 17-yard catch-and-run and then Tyler Boyd for a 9-yard completion to set up 4th-and-1 with just under 50 seconds left. Burrow dropped back and was immediately swarmed by Donald: (again). Still, he made a valiant effort, pitching it to an open running-back, but the panic Donald had caused, alas, was too much to overcome—made especially even more frustrating for Bengals fans (and those who predicted them to win) because Chase had beaten Ramsey downfield.
Burrow simply didn’t have enough time or protection to make the play.