RAMS 23 – BENGALS 20
In a night where it looked like the Cincinnati Bengals were on their way to pulling out a stunning upset in Super Bowl LVI, a late rally by Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and the Rams propelled LA to a 23-20 victory for the franchises second overall Super Bowl title, and first since returning to the City of Angles.
With the Bengals holing on to a 20-16 lead with 6:13 to go, Tyler Boyd failed to haul in what would have been a first down conversion on a critical third and nine, forcing Cincinnati to punt the football back to LA. It was now or never for the Rams, and they took full advantage of the opportunity.
Stafford guided LA on a time consuming 15-play, 79 yard drive as he picked apart the Bengals with short, precise throws to likes of Kupp, Brycen Hopkins and Cam Akers. After Stafford found Akers on an eight yard completion to the Bengals’ eight yard line, he would miss on his next two passes to set up a critical third and goal, setting up a pair of controversial moments that will be remembered from this Super Bowl for years to come.
Stafford’s short pass to Kupp was knocked away by linebacker Logan Wilson, who was quickly called for holding. Replay of the moment didn’t appear to indicate any hold on the part of Wilson, but the penalty gave LA new life with a first and goal at the four.
On the next play a Stafford touchdown pass to Kupp was nullified by deferring penalties on both teams, setting up another first and goal at the four. On that play, former Giant cornerback Eli Apple was called for pass interference, which spotted the ball with a new set of downs at the one-yard line. Two plays later, Stafford finally hit Kupp in the corner of the end zone for the winning score.
To be fair the penalties on the Bengals wasn’t the only controversial moment of the game. Earlier, the Bengals got away with a blatant offensive pass interference on Jalen Ramsey, when he caught a bomb from Joe Burrow and scored on the first play of the second half to give the Bengals a 17-13 lead out of the break.
Down 23-20 with 1:25 to go, the Bengals had one last shot to pull out a miracle. Burrow hit Ja’Marr Chase for 17 yards to the 42-yard line. Next, Burrow connected with Boyd for nine yards to midfield. But that was as far as the Bengals would go.
The Rams defense tightened around the Bengals suspect offensive line and shut down Cincy on three straight short-yardage plays. The deciding play came on fourth and one with Rams super star edge rusher Aaron Donald swinging around the left end and dragging Burrow down to the ground. After recording the winning sack, Donald pointed to his right ring finger, where a Super Bowl ring will claim its place.
The Super Bowl MVP went to Cooper Kupp, who had an amazing Super Bowl game, hauling in eight passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner. Kupp was amazing all postseason, and even came in third in the League MVP voting this year.
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