Adamo Marinelli
February 20, 2022
In a thrilling, close, and entertaining game, albeit with a bit of controversial refereeing, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnatti Bengals 23-20 to win their second Super Bowl in franchise history.
Matthew Stafford, who spent 12 seasons with the mediocre Detriot Lions; Odell Beckham Jr.; Aaron Donald, one of the best defensive players in NFL history; and Jalen Ramsey, a veteran lockdown cornerback all won their first Super Bowl.
Von Miller, who won Super Bowl 50 MVP with the Denver Broncos, won his second Lombardy trophy.
The Rams’ mortgaged their future to bring in talented veteran superstars in an effort to win a Super Bowl this year. Their next first-round pick isn’t until 2024. They traded a 2021 first-round pick to bring in Jalen Ramsey and a 2022 and 2023 first-round pick to bring in Stafford.
But, it was all worth it. The Rams' gamble worked out and now the entire team and all Rams fans can finally take a deep breath.
The Rams won their division with a 12-5 record after topping the Cardinals who started 7-0, won the NFC championship against a very talented 49ers team, and won the Super Bowl against the Bengals, who won their division with a 10-7 record and won the AFC championship against the Chiefs after trailing 21-3 in the second quarter.
The Bengals played very well and had a tremendous season despite the loss, defying the odds and proving the doubters and haters wrong. They will be back.
Let’s take a look at how the game unfolded.
The Rams got the ball first and after getting a few first downs, were forced to punt. The Bengals couldn’t even muster a first down after starting at their own 42-yard line and a failed fourth-down conversion gave the ball back to the Rams.
The Rams proceeded to advance the ball down the field and Odell Beckham Jr. scored the first points of the game with 6:26 left in the first quarter after catching a nicely thrown 17-yard TD pass from Matthew Stafford at the back of the end-zone to take a 7-0 lead.
Evan McPherson remained perfect in the playoffs with his 13th field goal on 13 attempts to cut the Rams’ lead to 7-3 with 31 seconds left in the first quarter.
On the Rams’ first drive of the second quarter, they moved down the field quickly and efficiently using the passing attack. Matt Stafford capped an 80-yard drive with a nice 11-yard TD pass to 2021 offensive player of the year Cooper Kupp to take a 13-3 lead, the two-point conversion after a botched hold was unsuccessful. It was at this point that the Rams’ pass rush really got going.
The Bengals shut down the Rams’ rushing attack very well. The Rams only recorded 43 yards on the ground the entire game, but the Rams’ passing attack clicked all night, even without OBJ who exited midway through the second quarter after a non-contact injury that was later determined to be a torn ACL. Beckham had two receptions, 52 yards, and a TD before he got injured.
Beckham’s injury was a turning point in the game because it changed the way the Rams’ offense operated and changed their offensive schemes and alignments.
A few drives later, after a huge defensive stop, the Bengals drove down the field using Joe Mixon on the ground to open up the passing attack. Both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins had fantastic games and were the most utilized weapons in the Bengals’ passing attack. Chase had five catches for 89 yards and Tee Higgins was electric with four catches, 100 yards, and two TDs.
With under six minutes left in the second quarter, the Bengals capped off a long drive with a little trickery. Joe Burrow took the snap, lateraled it to Mixon, who ran to his right and found a wide-open Tee Higgins for a six-yard TD to cut the lead to 13-10.
The game stayed 13-10 in favour of the Rams at halftime after a Matt Stafford interception with under a minute to go in the half ended a potential scoring drive for the Rams. The game was pretty close, however, the Rams held a slight advantage on both offense and defense.
On the first play of the second half, Joe Burrow connected with Tee Higgins for a 75-yard TD to take a 17-10 lead. It was a fantastic throw from Burrow, a fantastic route and catch from Higgins who recorded his second TD of the game, however, there was a clear offensive pass interference or face mask penalty against Jalen Ramsey that went uncalled.
On the next drive, Stafford would throw his second interception of the game and the Bengals would extend their lead to 20-13 after a 38-yard field goal from Evan McPherson. With that field goal, McPherson tied Adam Vinatieri for most field goals made in a single playoff run with 14. McPherson finished the playoffs making all 14 of his field goals.
With six minutes left in the third quarter, the Rams drove down the field to the brink of the red zone. Instead of going for it on fourth down, the Rams settled for a 41-yard field goal to cut the Bengals’ lead to 20-16.
The fourth quarter was a defensive battle. Both defenses made it tough for the opposing offense to move the ball. The Rams' defense recorded multiple sacks in the fourth quarter to slow down a high-powered Bengals' offense that had been extremely effective to that point. The Bengals' defense was able to hold the Rams in check with good play from their secondary after essentially removing their rushing attack from the game and forcing Stafford to pass.
Aaron Donald and Von Miller were both very efficient in the fourth quarter, recording multiple sacks, QB pressures and QB hurries. Joe Burrow appeared to get injured after taking a sack from Von Miller - the Rams’ sixth sack of the game - but would later come back and finish the rest of the game.
The score would remain 20-16 for the Bengals until 1:25 left in the game. After the Rams got a crucial defensive stop with the their seventh sack of the game, the Rams drove all the way down the field and Stafford threw his third TD pass of the game, his second to Cooper Kupp. Kupp beat Eli Apple off the line of scrimmage and caught a one-yard TD to put the Rams up 23-20. It was the second TD Apple gave up in Super Bowl 56.
The Rams would not have even had the opportunity to take the lead had it not been for an incredible play by Kupp to rush to the outside and then cut back inside for a huge seven-yard gain on a fourth down and one to keep the drive alive. Also, after hardly calling any penalties the entire game, except a false start, a delay of game, and an excessive celebration, and after missing a blatant OPI against Tee Higgins who turned Jalen Ramsey's facemask around, the Bengals defense would get a very questionable pass interference penalty called against them on third down which set up a first and goal for the Rams at the one-yard line and ultimately led to Kupp's winning score.
The Bengals would get the ball back and complete two big passes to Chase and Tyler Boyd to start off their drive and advance to midfield. But, the Rams prevented the Bengals from gaining one yard on three consecutive plays including a crucial pressure on fourth down and one by Aaron Donald to force an incompletion from Joe Burrow to end the game. The Rams would seal their victory with a QB kneel.
It was an incredible achievement for the Rams and their strategy of going all-in to win now paid off. They will look to run it back next season, which is possible, but hard to do. For the Bengals, despite the loss, they played an amazing game and had an amazing season, proving all the doubters wrong. Nobody thought they’d get to the Super Bowl but they did. If they invest in their offensive line, they’ll be back soon enough.
The main matchup to watch was the Bengals’ offensive line, which gave up a league-worst 51 sacks this season against a Rams’ pass rush which has a lot of talent on the interior and the edge and recorded 50 sacks, third-best in the NFL in the regular season.
The Rams’ pass rush dominated the Bengals’ offensive line all game, recording seven sacks which tied the NFL record for most sacks in the Super Bowl.
The 1976 Steelers, 1986 Bears, and 2016 Broncos were the only other teams to record seven sacks in the Super Bowl.
Aaron Donald got two sacks, Von Miller got two sacks (he now has 4.5 in his Super Bowl career), Leonard Floyd had one sack, rookie Ernest Jones got one sack and A’Shawn Robinson also recorded one sack.
The Bengals only recorded two sacks; one from Trey Hendrickson and one from D.J. Reader, both of which came on the Rams' first offensive possession. The Rams offensive line would be perfect after that. However, the Bengals picked off Matthew Stafford two times, which helped them keep the game close and led directly to three points for the Bengals.
The Rams’ pass rush was the main factor why they won the game. It was able to slow down and get stops against a very talented Bengals offense and it kept the Rams in the game despite the fact that Stafford threw two interceptions. The other difference was the Rams scoring a TD on all three of their red-zone trips, compared to the Bengals who only managed to score one TD on three red-zone trips.
Even though many argue Aaron Donald or Von Miller should have won Super Bowl MVP; Miller finished with two tackles, two QB hurries and two sacks, Donald finished with three tackles, three QB hurries, and two sacks, including the game-winning pressure. However, after the season Cooper Kupp had, where he led the league in receptions, yards, and TDs earning him the triple crown and offensive player of the year, and after his performance in the Super Bowl where he recorded eight receptions, 92 yards, and two TDs, Kupp deserved Super Bowl MVP.
Jerry Rice is the only other wide receiver to win the triple crown, offensive player of the year, and Super Bowl MVP in his career. Kupp did it all in one season. He arguably had the best season of any wide receiver ever.
It was an awesome Super Bowl to finish a fantastic NFL season. I hope next year's season will be just as exciting. Although seeing Al Michaels and Chris Collingsworth call their last game is very sad.
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