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With his back against the wall, Rams quarterback Matthew
Stafford kept his poise to engineer a 15-play drive that ended
with a one-yard touchdown pass to Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp
with 1:25 left to play.
Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald wrapped up Bengals
quarterback Joe Burrow on the final play to seal the win under
the lights of the team's home field.
"I'm just so happy," an emotional Donald said after the game.
"I wanted this so bad. I dreamed this, man. I feel amazing. It's
surreal, look at this," he said as confetti rained down on the
veteran lineman and his teammates.
RESILIENT RAMS
The Rams were forced to dig deep after they lost star wide
receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to a knee injury in the second
quarter and fell behind 20-13 in the third.
The ability to overcome setbacks is what makes the team special,
head coach Sean McVay told reporters.
"I can't say enough about the resilience of this team," McVay
said.
"Guys stepped up when they had to. That's what makes this team
great. That's why they are world champs."
With the victory, the Rams joined last year's Tampa Bay
Buccaneers as the only teams to win a Super Bowl on their home
field.
The franchise's only other Super Bowl championship came 22 years
ago when they were based in St. Louis. The win also helps ease
the pain of finishing runner-up to New England three years ago.
The Rams drew first blood on Sunday when Beckham made a leaping
grab in the end zone for a 7-0 lead to ignite the blue-and-gold
clad Rams fans on a hot day in Inglewood.
The Rams added to their lead when Stafford found Kupp in the
corner of the end zone for a touchdown in the second quarter,
but a bad hold by Johnny Hekker denied the team the extra point
as the Rams took a 13-3 advantage.
The Bengals responded with a 75-yard drive capped when running
back Joe Mixon threw a touchdown pass to Tee Higgins over the
fooled Rams secondary to cut the deficit to 13-10, a score that
held until halftime.
BENGALS BOUNCE BACK
The second half could not have started any better for the
Bengals as Burrow uncorked a 75-yard touchdown strike to Higgins
on the first offensive play after the break.
Higgins appeared to pull Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey down by
the face mask before making the catch but no flag was thrown and
the Bengals took their first lead of the game, 17-13.
Moments later, Stafford's pass bounced off the hands of receiver
Ben Skowronek and ended up in the arms of Chidobe Awuzie for an
interception that led to a Bengals field goal and a 20-13 lead.
A Matt Gay field goal cut the Cincinnati advantage to four
points and the high-powered Rams defense finally began to put
pressure on Burrow, sacking him for a seventh time in a play
that saw the young quarterback come up hobbled and holding his
right knee.
Burrow remained in the game but was unable to outduel Stafford
down the stretch.
"It hurts," Burrow told reporters.
"We put a lot of work into going out and executing and
performing well, and it didn't turn out the way we wanted, so
it's disappointing."
The action played out in front of a full house of more than
70,000 fans. Last year's Super Bowl in Tampa was limited to
25,000 spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The game also marked the coming out party for the new $5.5
billion SoFi Stadium, which is set to host major sporting events
including World Cup matches in 2026 and the Olympics in 2028.
The temperature at kickoff was 82 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees
Celsius), two degrees short of the record for a Super Bowl.
Inside the unique stadium, which has no walls or air
conditioning but does have a semi-translucent roof, it was
toasty but pleasant.
Next year's Super Bowl will be held on Feb. 12 at State Farm
Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Additional reporting by Lisa
Richwine in Inglewood and Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by
Tom Hogue)
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