Dream season ends in a bad Dey: Rams rally to top Bengals in Super Bowl

Matthew Stafford’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp gave the Rams a 23-20 win Sunday in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium, four years after they lost to the Patriots in their last championship game appearance. Penalties helped the Rams move further into the red zone on that go-ahead scoring drive, and the Bengals offense that went stale after a 10-point start to the second half didn’t have the magic left to come back a second time.

Ja’Marr Chase caught a 17-yard pass on the next play from scrimmage, but the Bengals turned the ball over on downs with a final pass intended for Samaje Perine falling incomplete.

Cincinnati, playing in its first Super Bowl in 33 years, had been a second-half team most of the season and it seemed that was going to be the case again Sunday. The Rams took a 13-3 lead early in the second quarter and were up 13-10 at halftime and the stage was set for another rally. Joe Burrow’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Tee Higgins on the first play of the third quarter gave the Bengals their first lead at 17-13 with 14:48 left in the third quarter.

Higgins shook free from Jalen Ramsey while coming back to the ball for the catch at the 37-yard line, and Ramsey’s feet got tangled, causing him to fall to the ground and leaving Higgins an open lane to the end zone.

Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie made sure the momentum stayed with the Bengals, intercepting Stafford on the next possession to put Burrow and the offense at the 31-yard line of the Rams. They got inside the red zone but had to settle for an Evan McPherson field goal after Aaron Donald sacked Burrow on third down.

McPherson’s 38-yarder was his second field goal of the day and tied former Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri’s 2006 record for most field goals in a postseason. McPherson was 14 for 14 this postseason.

The Rams answered with a field goal of their own, and from there, the defenses went to work until L.A. final drive. The teams traded punts, including once when Von Miller sacked Burrow on third down and caused him to come off limping after clutching the right knee he had banged up earlier in the year and re-injured late in the Week 17 win over the Chiefs. That game gave Cincinnati the AFC North title and allowed Burrow a chance to rest in the regular-season finale.

Burrow was back on the field the next possession, but the offense still wasn’t getting anywhere as the Rams continued to pressure him. He was sacked seven times, six in the second half, and the most yards the Bengals managed after McPherson’s field goal was 24 yards on a drive that ended with a fourth straight punt, giving the Rams the ball back with 6:13 left. That was plenty enough time to regain the lead.

Cincinnati similarly struggled at the beginning of the game.

After the Bengals turned the ball over on downs their opening possession, electing to pass on fourth-and-1 near midfield, the Rams took advantage of a short field to get on the board first. Odell Beckham scored on a 17-yard pass to the corner of the end zone with Mike Hilton covering him.

The teams traded punts after that before Ja’Marr Chase’s 46-yard catch put the Bengals in the red zone to set up a McPherson 29-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in the first quarter. However, the Rams drove right back down the field and Stafford found Cooper Kupp wide open in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown when Eli Apple didn’t see the play coming his way.

A bad snap on the point after attempt led to a forced pass, which Germaine Pratt picked off for the failed conversion.

The Bengals put together their best drive of the half after that to make it a three-point game with 5:47 left in the half. Higgins’ first catch of the day put them in the red zone, and Mixon then found Higgins for a 6-yard touchdown, the first passing touchdown of Mixon’s career, after Burrow pitched it back to him.