Hollywood ending: Rams rally to beat Bengals to win Super Bowl LVI
CBC
In a venue built for champions, the Los Angeles Rams carried off the crown jewel: a Super Bowl trophy.
It took a precise 79-yard drive capped by Cooper Kupp's 1-yard touchdown reception with 1:25 remaining for a 23-20 victory Sunday over the Cincinnati Bengals to give the Rams their first NFL title since the 1999 season — and their first representing Los Angeles since 1951.
"Those guys just did a great job," coach Sean McVay said. "They took over that game."
"As far as building this stadium," said Rams owner Stan Kroenke, the man who moved them back from St. Louis in 2016, "I think it turned out all right."
The winning series, during which game MVP Kupp's 4-yard touchdown reception from Matthew Stafford was negated by offsetting penalties, ended soon after with the NFL Offensive Player of the Year easily beating Eli Apple in the right corner of the end zone for the winning score.
Kupp had four receptions for 39 yards, and a 7-yard run on fourth-and-1 from the Rams 30 on the championship drive. Cincinnati was penalized the second-fewest times (72) for the fewest yards (620) in the regular season but flags on three consecutive plays hurt badly — including interference on Kupp in the end zone.
"I don't feel deserving of this," Kupp said. "The guys standing here challenged me, they pushed me. I am just so grateful."
Even with that brilliant, decisive march to the Lombardi Trophy, it was LA's "fearsome fivesome" that made the difference. Led by Aaron Donald and Von Miller, they sacked Joe Burrow a Super Bowl record-tying seven times, shutting down Cincinnati's offence after the Bengals took the lead and then added to it with a field goal during a 22-second spurt to start the second half.
Fittingly, Burrow was under pressure on fourth-and-1 and threw incomplete, setting off a football fiesta this city has not seen since the LA Raiders won the 1983 championship.
A tearful Donald said after the crowning achievement of a certain Hall of Fame career, "I wanted it so bad. I dreamed this."
The 10 quick points at the outset of the third quarter put Cincinnati ahead for the first time. Tee Higgins' 75-yard score made it 17-13 and was followed one play later by Chidobe Awuzie's pick. Evan McPherson tied Adam Vinatieri's postseason record with his 14th field goal, a 38-yarder.
Higgins beat All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey on the first play of the second half — the receiver clearly tugged Ramsey's face mask on the play. After Stafford was intercepted on the next play, the Bengals got McPherson's field goal.
Then they tried to hold on as all of southwest Ohio held its breath.
But LA's relentless pass rush, led by its two biggest stars, Donald and Miller with two apiece, allowed nothing more.
