by Ryan Mercier
In the end, Matthew Stafford led the game-winning drive in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl. MVP of the game, Cooper Kupp, caught his second TD from Stafford to take the lead with 1:25 remaining. Then, Aaron Donald wrecked shop on the ensuing drive to end the Bengals season.
There were spectacular plays like RB Joe Mixon throwing a touchdown in the Super Bowl, his first career NFL pass, and Tee Higgins grabbing a 75-yard bomb (and Jalen Ramsey’s facemask). However, the story lies in the doldrums of the contest.
The second half started off with a tremendous bang. Joe Burrow launched the 75-yarder, Chidobe Awuzie intercepted a pass on the very next play, and each team notched a field goal on back-to-back drives. After that, yuck.
For the next five drives, the Cincinnati Bengals and L.A. Rams combined for a total of zero yards. Zero. The game was hanging in the balance as the Bengals held a 20-16 lead with about six minutes left in the third quarter. Neither team was able to grab the throttle.
Seven drives in a row gained a net of 30 yards for both teams put together. The Bengals would get the ball moderately deep in their own territory, do nothing, and then give the ball to the Rams at midfield who would also do nothing. For seven drives.
This game had a chance to go anywhere. The first half gave us three touchdown passes (one from a running back), a fun botched extra point, and an interception in the end zone. Immediately following halftime there was too much action to keep up with. Potential was building for this to turn into an all-time great Super Bowl. Instead, SoFi Stadium grew cold.
All credit to the Rams for getting it done in crunch-time. Stafford needed one drive to wash the stink of Detroit off of him for forever and he did it. The end-of-game drama was there. But those seven drives keep Super Bowl LVI off the Top-10 lists.
Struggling Actor Sports 