Rams rally past Bengals to win 1st Super Bowl in 22 years
Matthew Stafford threw a go-ahead touchdown with 1:25 left as the Los Angeles Rams capped their roller-coaster season with a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.
The Rams captured their first NFL championship since Super Bowl XXXIV. Cooper Kupp caught two touchdowns - including the deciding one - and took home MVP honors.
Stafford threw the game-winning pass just over a year after the Rams acquired him in a blockbuster trade with the Detroit Lions. He put up big numbers for 12 seasons in Detroit but never won a postseason game before coming to Los Angeles.
"It's an unbelievable feeling," the 34-year-old said after the game. "To be able to move in with this group and go to work with the special guys that we have on our team was amazing. They took me under their wing, showed me how it's done around here."
Against the Bengals, Stafford threw for 283 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He engineered a 15-play drive in the fourth quarter to put his team on top after going cold in the middle portion of the game.
The Rams also took down the Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs en route to the title. They won seven of their first eight games in the regular season before running into a three-game skid that incited criticism and questions about their ability to fulfill their championship expectations.
The star-studded Rams received big performances from many, including All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year pressured Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow into a fourth-down incompletion in the final minute to ice the result.
"I'm just so happy," Donald said. "I wanted this so bad. I dreamed this. I dreamed this. It's surreal. Look at this."
Donald and edge rusher Von Miller, a midseason pickup from the Denver Broncos, sacked Burrow twice each. Altogether, L.A. sacked the Bengals quarterback a whopping seven times. Miller won his second championship after capturing Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos six years ago.
"When I first got here, we lost three straight," said Miller. "We were able to rally, went out on a streak, lost the last game of the season to a tough 49ers team, got to the playoffs, fought all the way through the playoffs. We had to fight to get the win here today, man. We have a team full of fighters."
Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who joined the Rams shortly after Miller following his release from the Cleveland Browns, scored a touchdown before going down with a knee injury in the second quarter.
The Bengals went into halftime down 13-10 but scored 10 points in the third quarter to surge ahead. They came up empty in the fourth quarter, though, ending their fairytale season in disappointing fashion.