Stafford throws game-winner to Kupp as Rams beat Bengals in Super Bowl LVI
Aaron Donald ripped off his helmet and sprinted around the field at SoFi Stadium, pointing to his finger as he looked into the crowd. Rings were in order.
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year had harassed Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow throughout the second half of Super Bowl LVI and did so on the game’s decisive play, forcing an incomplete pass on fourth-and-1 to preserve a 23-20 win Sunday.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford threw the game-winning, one-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Cooper Kupp with 1:25 remaining. Kupp, who was named Super Bowl MVP, caught eight passes for 92 yards and two scores.
The win gives the Rams their second title and first championship since 1999 when the franchise was in St. Louis. The victory also provides a bit of redemption for a team that came up short in the Super Bowl in 2019, when it lost to the New England Patriots.
“There’s something really powerful about being a part of something bigger than yourself,” said Rams coach Sean McVay, who at 36 years old became the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl. “You can see that in the way these guys competed.”
The game-winning drive spanned 15 plays and 79 yards and was extended by multiple penalties from the Bengals, which included a holding flag on linebacker Logan Wilson on third-and-goal.
“That last drive was a special drive. One I’ll never forget,” said Stafford. “Just so many great plays by so many great players. ... I know in the moment [after the game], I didn’t know what to think. I was just a little emotional and so happy to be a world champ. So happy to be a part of this group. That’s the biggest thing. It’s not me, it’s not any individual on this team. We’re a group. We’re a team. And to get it down together was so special.”
Stafford, acquired in a trade from the Detroit Lions before the season, completed 26 of 40 passes for 283 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Donald, the game-wrecking defensive tackle who made the game-sealing play, had two of the Rams’ seven sacks, which tied a Super Bowl record, as they frequently flustered Burrow.
The Rams led 13-3 in the second quarter but the Bengals responded with 17 straight points, including a pair of touchdown catches by wide receiver Tee Higgins. Cincinnati sputtered after kicker Evan McPherson’s field goal gave the team a 20-16 lead in the third quarter, punting on the next four possessions before turning the ball over on downs on the final drive.
Burrow, the Comeback Player of the Year who led Cincinnati’s rapid ascension in the AFC, completed 22 of 33 passes for 263 yards and one touchdown. His 75-yard touchdown pass to Higgins on the first play from scrimmage in the second half gave the Bengals a 17-13 lead. However, Cincinnati totaled just 75 yards on 30 plays the rest of the game, as the Rams defensive front had its way with a Bengals offensive line that struggled throughout the season. Six of Los Angeles’ seven sacks came after halftime.
“You’ve got to be relentless,” Donald said. “You want something bad enough, you’ve got to go get it. It was right in front of us. It was put on the defense’s shoulders to make the big stop to help us be world champions. You wouldn’t want it any other way.”
As he has been throughout the season, Kupp was the focal point of the game-winning drive. He caught four passes on the possession and his 7-yard run on a jet sweep moved the chains on fourth-and-1 from the Rams’ 30-yard line with five minutes remaining. His game-winning score came over cornerback Eli Apple on a fade route, which Stafford recognized as man-to-man coverage before the snap.
“Sean did a great job,” Kupp said. “We were kind of in a hurry-up that whole last drive, being able to kind of keep [the Bengals] from setting some rushes but also keep them in just zone calls where you can kind of put some pressure, get calls that they feel comfortable playing. We zoned some stuff off and allowed Matthew and I to kind of find some soft spots in there.”
“Once we got down into the tight [red zone] area,” McVay said, “it felt like it was about 60 plays for us to be able to finally get that one in on the fade. And Cooper Kupp is the man.”
Kupp’s late-game heroics was even more impressive considering the Bengals devoted more attention to him after fellow wideout Odell Beckham jr. exited the game with a non-contact knee injury in the second quarter.
Beckham, who caught a 17-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring in the first quarter, tweaked his knee after attempting to corral a pass thrown behind him. He went to the locker room and was later ruled out for the rest of the game but returned to the sideline to be with his teammates.
In recent years, the Rams made a series of high-profile acquisitions to stack their roster with high-end talent, with no better example than the trade for Stafford, who failed to win a playoff game in 12 seasons with Detroit. The team got cornerback Jalen Ramsey in a trade two seasons ago, signed Beckham in the middle of the season after his release from Cleveland and sent a pair of Day 2 draft picks to the Denver Broncos for outside linebacker Von Miller ahead of the trade deadline.
The Rams’ approach to team-building was viewed by many as a high-risk, high-reward gamble but ultimately ended in a storybook ending inside their home stadium.
“This was really satisfying to see these guys and to see the looks on their faces,” McVay said. “To be able to do it in the house that [Rams owner] Mr. [Stan] Kroenke built, it’s really special.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2022 at 10:07 PM.
