🏈🏈 Super Bowl LVI Review 🏈🏈

 

🏈🏈🏈🏈

 

Super Bowl LVI Champions

Los Angeles Rams 

Los Angeles Rams 23, Cincinnati Bengals 20  

Well, the Rams are the newly crowned Super Bowl champions. In a closely fought contest, they ultimately came up with the goods at the most important times during the game. The management took a gamble, trying to build a very talented team almost custom built to last this long, and to win a Super Bowl. And that is exactly what they did.  

Simply stated, the Rams were not going to be denied. This was just too important for them. They shut the door on every other opponent that they met in these playoffs. Slammed the door hard and early on the Cardinals. Then shut the door quickly on the Bucs during their comeback attempt. Had a hard time against San Francisco, a team that had owned them prior to the NFC Championship meeting, but they ultimately shut the door on them to secure this Super Bowl appearance. Then, they missed some opportunities and gave the Bengals a real chance to win. But when it came down to it, the Rams did just enough, just what they needed to do, to take a late lead with less than two minutes to go in the game. And when they needed to, the Rams defense - which grew stronger and more effective as the game went along, clamped down on Burrow and Cincinnati, forcing them out of the game after they ran out of downs. They slammed the door shut on their final opponents of the year. Ball game.            

Now, I picked the Bengals, and also hoped that they would win. They were my pick based upon the momentum that they had built, and how they seemed to consistently beat teams that appeared to be better. Part of it was perhaps hope, because I really wanted to see the Bengals finally win a Super Bowl. They are the only team that I pulled for in three different Super Bowls, and which lost all three of those Super Bowls. It would be nice if they actually manage to win one someday. So perhaps, if I really want to see them win it all, I should root for the other team the next time that they get here. Maybe that will do the trick.              

But I suspected that the Rams were the better overall team of the two. They did not figure to be unbeatable, but they have obviously some serious talent on both sides of the ball, and they came to play on this Sunday. The offense produced when they needed to, and the defense really stepped up in a big way when that was necessary.    

One aspect of this game that I personally felt was not a highlight, and actually detracted from it considerably, was the officiating. Rather predictably, the refs seemed to get way too involved in the game in the final minutes, calling penalties which were, at best, questionable. It cost the Bengals dearly in those final minutes, and may have helped decide the game. Yet early in the second half, the Bengals actually were the beneficiaries of a controversial no call when wide receiver Tee Higgins got away with a face mask and pull against a Rams defender, giving him space and allowing him to make a huge catch and run for a touchdown that put the Bengals in front for the first time in the game. That, too, could have been the difference in the game had Cincy won. So overall, not a very great day by the officiating crew here for this one.          

The two teams were almost evenly split in terms of time of possession, with the Rams holding onto the ball for slightly longer, by less than two minutes. The two teams also were close in total offensive production numbers, and the Rams earned 313 yards and 18 first downs, while Cincy earned 305 total yards and 15 first downs. However, the Rams gave up the ball twice, while the Bengals did not commit any turnovers.              

If you look at those stats, you might be forgiven if you would the think that the Bengals would have won. But the two teams had their moments in terms of momentum. Early on, it seemed to be all Rams, as they scored two touchdowns in their first three drives, and owned a seemingly commanding 13-3 lead early in the second quarter.              

However, the Bengals responded, and almost immediately. They score a touchdown on the next drive when running back Joe Mixon threw a touchdown pass to Tee Higgins to draw Cincy to within 13-10. It was the beginning of a serious momentum switch that stretched well into the third quarter and saw the Bengals score 17 unanswered points there for a while. They suddenly were up by a touchdown midway through the third quarter. Also, they seemed to have all of the momentum by that point. Had they managed to keep that going even a little bit more, or perhaps had they gotten a touchdown instead of that field goal, the end result in this game might have proved to be very different.              

The Rams answered back themselves, however. They chipped away at the lead with a field goal on the very next drive. But they really answered in a big way in the final two minutes, with the game on the lin. Trailing 20-16 very late in the game, they put together a 15-play, 79-yard drive late in the fourth quarter. Head coach Sean McVay showed some serious guts by going for it on fourth and short. They converted, and soon were knocking on the door. Cincy was backed up to their own goal line, hoping for a defensive stan. And it looked like they might get it, too, but there was a controversial flag against them that gave the Rams a fresh set of downs to work with. Moments later, Stafford found Kupp for a 1-yard touchdown pass that ultimately proved to be the game winner.  

In one post earlier this week, I speculated on the possibility that Matthew Stafford could break the record of Super Bowl XXI MVP Phil Simms. Well, that did not happen. Yet, he played a solid game, completing 26 of 40 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns, although he also threw two picks. His favorite target proved to be the Cooper Kupp, who grabbed eight catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns. For such a tremendous day, he was rewarded with the game’s MVP reward. Former Giants and Browns receiver Odell Beckham also had a big first half, hauling in two catches for 52 yards and one touchdown, although he went down wit a non-contact knee injury in the second quarter. He returned to the Rams sideline, although it was clear that he would not return to the game, as he was no longer in uniform. Still, he got to celebrate his team’s championship win with them.  

The Rams were not so effective with their running game, although they were a bit more effective towards the end of the game, when it was most important. The numbers, though, will not reflect that. Cam Akers only picked up 21 yards on 13 carries during this game. The Cincy defense was very effective against the run.  

As for Cincinnati, they obviously fell short. Still, Joe Burrow had some highlights, completing 22 of 33 passes for 263 yards and one touchdown. Tee Higgins caught four of those passes for 100 yards, leading all Bengals receivers. On the ground, Joe Mixon collected 72 yards on 15 carries.  

For a good part of the game, it appeared that the Bengals were holding back that dangerous Rams defense. But as the game wore on, it became clear that Cincy’s offensive line was being worn down. They kept collapsing against the relentless pressure by the Rams, as Burrow kept being rushed and getting sacked more often the later in the game it got. Indeed, Los Angeles managed to tie a Super Bowl record by sacking Burrow seven times. Defensive leader Aaron Donald had two of those sacks, as well as four tackles in the game.  

Ultimately, and perhaps fittingly, it was the Rams defense that applied the pressure on Burrow and that Cincy offense when the game was on the line. With the Bengals desperately hoping to try and convert a first down to keep their last ditch effort alive, the Rams pressured Burrow into what was almost a sack by Aaron Donald. Burrow managed to get the ball away, but it was hurried and wound up being a poorly thrown ball that fell harmlessly incomplete on fourth down, icing the win for the hometown Rams.  

So the Rams earn their second Super Bowl title in franchise history, although it is the first time that they win it for the city of Los Angeles. They become the second straight team to win the biggest game on their own home field, as the Buccaneers managed to become the first team to achieve that feat in last year’s Super Bowl. Also, this gives the NFC two straight Super Bowl wins, allowing them to keep the overall lead between the two conferences, with 29 wins now for the NFC, to 27 for the AFC.  

As for the Bengals, this clearly was a disappointing result. Not what they either expected or wanted. However, Burrow did say in the postgame interview that he felt that despite the bitter ending, he felt that the Bengals had enjoyed a very successful season. He wanted he and his teammates to appreciate and celebrate their accomplishments, and not allow this bitter end to simply ruin that.  

In the end, we got another very close game that came down to the wire. That was as it should be, considering how many great and close games this postseason had. As mentioned in previous posts, there were no single, dominant teams this season, and the close games in the postseason strongly reinforced that, including this Super Bowl. I am not sure that I would personally put it up there as one of the all-time great Super Bowl games. There were a number of the big games where both sides played significantly better, where it was more exciting, where there were better and more impressive highlight reels from both sides, frankly. There were some Super Bowl efforts by both individuals and players that really have become immortalized in our collective imagination. This one did not feel like one of those, however.

Still, it was a competitive and entertaining game. There was a lot of hype, and some of it felt anticlimatic. The Rock doing that weird introduction thing in the beginning of the game felt like that. So did the halftime show, which was billed as the Be All, End All halftime show to outshine all other halftime shows. Frankly, though, it felt like there were just too many performers and that it was all just too rushed. Maybe that was just my impression, but I don't think so. They tried to cram as many big names as possible, and it felt like the mere fact that they tried to get that many artists on in such a short space of time actually took away from how good the show might otherwise have been if one or two major acts had been allowed more time and more of the stage lights. 

Now, football is over for another offseason. Well, NFL football is, anyway. The USFL is going to have a rebirth, and that should be interesting. But hardly anyone is talking about that at the moment. As for the offseason, it feels like there are more questions surrounding it than usual. It seems likely that there will be a huge musical chairs game among starting quarterbacks, and that could prove interesting. There is some speculation that Matthew Stafford will be retiring now, and even more speculation that Aaron Donald might be retiring, despite being still quite young. Hell, there is even some buzz that Rams head coach Sean McVay may wind up retiring. So it should be an interesting offseason. But at least we had a decently entertaining and close Super Bowl to finish this season off. 

My pick: Inaccurate