SB LVI Recap
What. A. Game.
The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals by a score of 23-20 in SoFi Stadium to win Super Bowl LVI.
This is the first Super Bowl the Rams have won since moving to Los Angeles from St. Louis.
The first real momentum shift of the game was when the Bengals were stopped on fourth down after a pass breakup by Rams linebacker Ernest Jones.
The Rams immediately followed it up with a Matthew Stafford touchdown pass to Odell Beckham Jr. After trading three and outs, the Bengals drove 59 yards downfield with Evan McPherson kicking a field goal to get Cincinnati on the board.
The Rams would go up by ten after another Stafford touchdown pass this time to Cooper Kupp. The extra point was dropped by punter Johnny Hekker causing the Rams to settle for no extra point.
Cincinnati followed this up with a trick play where running back Joe Mixon tossed a pass to Tee Higgins for the touchdown.
The half ended with an interception and a pair of punts.
The Super Bowl Halftime featured the likes of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, and Mary J. Blige and to put it frankly, it was fantastic.
The Bengals came out on fire in the second half taking just one play to find the endzone after Joe Burrow connected with Tee Higgins for a long touchdown.
This was one of the more controversial plays of the game as it appeared that Higgins grabbed Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey’s facemask and it went uncalled.
Cincinnati gained all the momentum as Stafford threw a pass that was tipped up by receiver Ben Skowronek and intercepted by Chidobe Awuzie on Los Angeles’ 32-yard line.
The Rams held on despite this as the Bengals kicked a field goal. Los Angeles then had a ten-yard drive which resulted in a Matt Gay field goal.
The teams then traded off drives of punts where seven collective drives resulted in a net of 30 yards for both teams.
The drive started with a fourth-down end around by Kupp resulting in a first down.
The Rams then broke this up by a game-winning drive led by Stafford and Kupp with Kupp scoring the game-winning touchdown.
Cincinnati then turned the ball over on downs clinching the Super Bowl win for the Rams.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for over 280 yards and had three touchdowns and two interceptions.
In the run game, the Rams played like a Big Ten team by consistently rushing the ball for little to no gain but continuing to do it no matter what.
Kupp won Super Bowl MVP with eight receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Beckham Jr. had two catches for 52 yards and a touchdown before going down with a knee injury in the first half that would put him out for the rest of the game.
On defense, Darious Williams led the team with eight tackles while Aaron Donald and Von Miller each had a pair of sacks.
The defense had seven total sacks while punter Johnny Hekker consistently pinned the Bengals inside the 20-yard line.
On the Bengals side, Burrow threw for over 260 yards with a touchdown. Mixon led the way rushing with 72 yards and a passing touchdown.
Higgins stood out as a receiver with exactly 100 yards on four catches and two touchdowns.
Logan Wilson led Cincinnati in tackles while Trey Hendrickson and DJ Reader each had a sack. Awuzie and Jessie Bates III had interceptions in the game.
James Morrison is a second-year majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, email jpm6920@psu.edu.
