When fourth and one came up with the world championship on the line, Rams coach Sean Mcvaey didn’t panic, rather asked Aaron Donald “What more do you want”, and then watched as the best defender in football spun around Joe Burrow, forcing the incompletion, and in their own building it were the Los Angeles Rams who were victorious 23-20 over the Cincinnati Bengals for the franchises first Super Bowl since 1999 when they were still based in ST Louis. The triumph rewarded LA for pushing all their chips to the table in 2022, as they hired a 30 year old Mcvay making him the youngest coach ever, sacrifices two first rounders for all-star corner back Jalen Ramsey who was an instrumental part in their title run, traded Jared Goff, two first rounders, and a third rounder in the blockbuster deal to net QB Matthew Stafford,
dealt second and third rounders to Denver, for all-star Von Miller to create a monster trio on the defensive end, and last but not least, gave WR Odell Beckham JR a contract. It left the Rams with no first rounds picks until 2024, and hardly any cap space to make moves beyond this season. But now that they’ve won in their new $5 billion Sofi stadium, they won’t care one bit.
Trailing 20-16 in the seasons final minutes, the Rams needed a spark out of their bumbling offense, and once again it was Mathew Stafford who delivered It wasn’t a memorable drive, aided by three successive Bengals penalties in the red zone, despite the poor throws, Nevertheless: When triple-crown winner and Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp caught a 1-yard pass from Matthew Stafford with 85 seconds remaining for his second score of the game, the Rams were on the cusp of history.
But this clash was mainly defensive-laden and it was fitting that it ended that way, and out of an Hollywood script, one of the greatest pass rushers of all time capped off a Los Angeles run for the ages.
Trailing 20-16 late in regulation, Stafford engineered a winning score. On fourth and one with five minutes left, Cooper Kupp ran an end-around for a first down. On third and two , a few plays later, Mathew Stafford sent a short slant to Brandon Hopkins for six yards to keep the drive alive with 3:41 left.
Los Angeles kept marching down towards the red zone as the two minute warning approached, setting up the dramatic ending. On third and eight and eight yards shy of the end zone, LA benefited from three straight Cincinnati penalties, which set up the go-ahead score for the 23-20 advantage.
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