Adamo Marinelli
January 31, 2021
What an incredible weekend of football. Super Bowl 56 is set between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams. Two very talented QBs will have the chance to win their first Lombardy Trophy. Let’s take a look at both games to see how we got here.
Cincinnati Bengals @ Kansas City Chiefs:
After a thrilling 42-36 OT win in the divisional round against Josh Allen and the Bills, the Chiefs hosted the red-hot Bengals. The Bengals won a thriller 34-31 the last time these teams played to win the AFC North. Joe Burrow threw for 446 yards and four TDs and Ja’Marr Chase caught 11 passes for 266 yards and three TDs. Burrow and Chase will be a factor again today. The Kansas City Chiefs jumped out to a 21-3 lead in the second quarter, but then the Bengals' defense stood tall. They held the Chiefs scoreless from five minutes left in the second quarter until a last-second field goal to send the game to overtime.
After the Chiefs took a 21-3 lead, the Bengals stormed down the field and cut the lead to 21-10 with one minute left in the first half. The Chiefs responded by moving the ball all the way to the one-yard line. On a second and goal with five seconds left in the first half, instead of taking a chip shot field goal to take a 14 point lead, they went for it and a completion to Tyreek Hill inbounds ran out the clock. Mahomes was excellent in the first half and played near-perfect football, completing 21/25 of his passes, throwing for 220 yards and three TDs in the first half. However, in the second half and overtime, he looked extremely uncomfortable and played very poorly, completing only 5 of 14 passes and recording only 55 yards, zero TDs, and two INTs. In the third quarter, he completed only 3/10 passes for 17 yards.
The Chiefs' defense scored on their first three drives, but fell apart in the second half, scoring only three points in the second half, (just like in their week 17 matchup vs the Bengals) and overtime The Bengals’ defense really came to play and played a huge role in shutting down Patrick Mahomes and the potent Chiefs’ offense. The Bengals forced multiple turnovers against the Chiefs, forcing Mahomes to throw two interceptions, one of which gave the Bengals a possession in overtime, which led to the eventual game-winning field goal by rookie Evan McPherson. Their defense also pressured Mahomes all game long, their secondary played lockdown coverage all throughout the second half. Finally, they recorded several key sacks to end Kansas City drives. At the end of the third quarter and at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Bengals recorded two sacks to force the Chiefs to punt the ball twice. Late in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs were driving in the red zone with less than 90 seconds left and had a chance to win the game with a TD, but Sam Hubbard stripped sacked Mahomes to force a late field 44-yard field goal by Harrison Butker to tie the game and send it to overtime. The Bengals got four sacks (two from Sam Hubbard and 1.5 from Trey Hendrickson), the Chiefs only had one. The Bengals' offensive line played much better than they did in Tennessee, where they gave up nine sacks.
After a very slow start, the Bengals’ offense was fantastic in the second half. In the third quarter, the Bengals scored 11 points in less than two minutes (with the help of a Mahomes’ interception to set up a Ja’Marr Chase TD and a two-point conversion) to tie the game 21-21. On multiple occasions, late in the game, Burrow escaped a ton of pressure, to get a first down with his legs to keep the drive alive. He did it twice in the same drive on a 3rd and 7 and a 3rd and 8. That led to a field goal to take a 24-21 lead, with six minutes left in the game, their first lead of the game. Joe Burrow threw for 250 yards, two TDs, and one INT. Tee Higgins had six receptions for 103 yards and Ja’Marr Chase had six catches for 54 yards and a TD. The Bengals run game was very strong too, especially in overtime to close it out.
In overtime, the Chiefs won the coin toss for the second straight week and the whole world and assumed the Chiefs would win in walk-off fashion again. However, like in the second half, Mahomes looked very uncomfortable in OT. Mahomes forced two passes which were both almost picked off. On 3rd and 10, Mahomes forced a deep pass to Hill in double coverage which was intercepted by Von Bell. The Bengals meticulously drove the ball downfield with the help of Joe Mixon in the run game and some key throws from Burrow. In the end, a 31-yard field goal for the Bengals propelled them to the Super Bowl, their first time since 1989.
San Fransisco 49ers @ Los Angeles Rams
After two thrilling wins against the Cowboys and the #1 seed Packers, the 49ers, a team with a dominant defense, special teams, and an electric offense behind Deebo Samuel, Elijah Mitchell, and George Kittle made it to the NFC championship game for the second time in three seasons and going into the fourth quarter with a 17-7 lead, it looked like they would be going to the Super Bowl. The Rams had an interesting path to the NFC championship, defeating the Cardinals 34-11 in the wild card round and defeating the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30-27 with a game-winning field goal despite holding a 27-3 lead midway through the third quarter. As division rivals, these two teams know each other very well. However, recently the 49ers have had the Rams’ number. The 49ers beat the Rams both times this season and six times dating back to 2019.
This was a very defensive game and it was a tale of two halves. After a scoreless first quarter, where both defenses played extremely well, limiting the opponents’ success moving the ball, the 49ers kicked into high gear in the second quarter. Trailing 7-0 early in the second quarter, they were able to use their run game to move the ball well enough to open up the passing attack. Deebo Samuel - who has been a dual-threat at receiver and running back all season for the 49ers - caught a deep touchdown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo to tie the game. The 49ers would add a field goal after a missed Rams’ field goal to take a 10-7 lead into halftime. The 49ers would extend their lead to 17-7 in the third quarter after George Kittle’s incredible touchdown reception on a dime midway through the third quarter from Garoppolo, who despite his lackluster performances against Dallas and Green Bay, had a great game against the Rams, completing 16 of 30 passes for 232 yards, two TDs, and one INT.
For the Rams, Stafford lived up to expectations, completing 31/45 passes for 337 yards, two TDs, and one INT, which came on the Rams' first red-zone drive. The Rams - who are normally a very good rushing attack - could not get a run game going against Kyle Shanahan’s defense, totaling only 70 yards on the ground. However, Cooper Kupp, who led the league in receptions, yards, and touchdowns in the regular season was the hero again last night, recording 11 catches for 142 yards and two TDs. Odell Beckham Jr. was also incredible, with nine catches for 113 yards. He was open for most of the game due to the 49ers doubling Cooper Kupp.
In the fourth quarter, down 17-7, the Rams were in desperation mode and Matthew Stafford threw a long ball downfield that should have been his second interception of the game. Jacquiski Tart, 49ers’ DB, had the ball in his hands, but couldn’t come up with a crucial interception which would have given the 49ers great field possession and a chance to score another TD to extend the lead to 24-7 in the midway through the fourth quarter. The Rams would score 13 points consecutive points in the third quarter which included two field goals and Kupp’s second TD reception to take a 20-17 lead. Once they had the lead, despite not being able to sack Garoppolo once, the Rams defense got enough pressure on him to disrupt his rhythm. With 1:15 seconds left in the game, the Rams sent an all-out blitz and forced Garoppollo to throw a game-sealing interception. He played a solid game, minus the two-minute warning. Sorry, 49ers fans. The 49ers' defense played well, sacking Stafford twice and forcing an interception and their offense was productive too. The dropped interception by Tart was the difference.
So, as a result, Super Bowl 56 will feature an electric Bengals offense led by Joe Burrow, Joe Mixon, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins against a Rams’ team who went all out to win a Super Bowl now by signing talented veterans like Matt Stafford and Odell Beckham Jr., who both haven’t won a Super Bowl. They also acquired Von Miller on defense, who with Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd make one of the scariest front seven’s in the NFL. Regardless of what happens, this game is sure to be entertaining. Whatever team wins will surely deserve it. Nobody expected the Bengals to get to the Super Bowl and people have had their doubts about the Rams this season, but those are the two teams defending their respective conference in the battle for the iconic Lombardy trophy. Both teams are talented on both sides of the ball, are well-coached, and have a shot to win. The Rams have the chance to become the second consecutive team to win the Super Bowl on their home field after the Buccaneers did it this year.
The Rams opened as -4 favourites, and I will take the Rams to win a high-scoring game, 31-27.
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