Last night, the Los Angeles Rams secured their second Super Bowl in franchise history with a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Los Angeles.
In our preview of the game last week, we had a look at my predictions for the year and I’m happy to say that my call oin the Rams was bang on the money, although the Bengals made them work hard for it.
However, barely has the dust settled on what was an epic and exciting Super Bowl, with one of the most memorable half-time shows in recent memory, and there are punters already starting to look ahead to the next season and who could follow the Rams into the record books.
We will take a look at the very early futures market for the 2022/23 Super Bowl winner with bet365 Sport very shortly, but before that, we will give you a run down of how Super Bowl LVI went and what were the key factors that saw the Rams clinch victory.
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Let’s first give you a recap of what proved to be an intriguing game last night, perhaps not a classic, but one which had plenty of intrigue and a game that ebbed and flowed in different directions at various times.
The last two teams that have won the Super Bowl have not only done it on their home turf, but also by rejecting the notion that in the NFL, you need to build for the future.
Just as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the home for many talented veterans, so the Los Angeles Rams traded away a number of top draft picks to acquire some of the best talent in the NFL to try and land success now.
And last night, those at the time controversial moves, paid off big time as they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 to clinch the win and get their hands on the Lombardi Trophy.
Both teams made a relatively quiet start to the Super Bowl, unable to score on their first possession, but the fact that the Bengals went for it on 4th and 1 at midfield, and failed to get a new set of downs handed the Rams the ball in a good position.
Stafford promptly moved the ball downfield before hitting Odell Beckham Junior for the opening touchdown.
The Bengals replied with a Field Goal, but in the second quarter came a key moment in the game when Beckham Jr. pulled up with what looked like a reoccurrence of his knee ligament issue that ended his season last year.
The Rams extended that lead when Stafford found Cooper Kupp in the end zone, but Joe Mixon threw a pass to Tee Higgins to reduce the deficit to 13-10, the Rams having botched one extra point attempt earlier in the game.
Stafford threw an interception late in the first half, meaning that at half time, the Bengals trailed by three.
The first big change in momentum came in the second half. The Bengals received the kick off and just 12 seconds into the half had taken the lead when Burrow found Tee Higgins for a 75-yard touchdown.
The officials missed a blatant facemask penalty on Jalen Ramsey by Higgins on the play that would have nullified the score and after another Matt Stafford pass was intercepted, the Bengals kicked a field goal to put themselves up 20-13.
It appeared as if the game was going away from the Rams but a play on the next Bengals series seemed to finally kick start the key man in the game, Aaron Donald, into action.
Joe Burrow escaped the pocket and headed towards the touchline but Donald chased him down and shoved the QB heavily out of bounds. The Bengals bench reacted but you got the sense Donald needed something to fire him and the Rams defense up.
And it worked a treat as for the remainder of the game, Leonard Floyd, Von Miller and Aaron Donald would spend almost every snap in the Bengals backfield, putting pressure on Burrow.
With Jamar Chase nullified by Ramsey, the Bengals could not get much going on offense to pad that lead to beyond a single score and that proved crucial in the end.
Late in the third quarter Matt Gaye kicked a field goal to reduce the deficit to 20-16 and the both defenses seemed to be holding their own until the Rams final drive late in the fourth quarter.
Devoid of Tyler Higbee and Odell Beckham Jr, the Rams offense had not been able to establish any run game, to offset those key losses at receiver.
So if the Rams offense was going to score, they had to go to their best players.
The next Rams drive late in the game saw Stafford and Cooper Kupp link up multiple times to drive to the Bengals 1 yard line where after a failed QB sneak, Stafford found Kupp to put the Rams ahead 23-20 with just 85 seconds left on the clock.
Joe Burrow is no stranger to game-winning drives and he began by moving the Bengals into midfield, but the Rams were now really exerting huge pressure on the second-year QB.
Then to cap an outstanding second-half performance, with the Bengals at 4 and 1 with the Super Bowl on the line, Donald escaped his blocked to haul Burrow down, Burrow tried to get off a last gasp pass to Perine, but the ball fell short, hitting the deck and handing the Super Bowl title to the Rams.
Before the game, it was rumoured that if the Rams won the Super Bowl then Donald would retire. There will be many Rams fans who watched that game hoping that this is not the case.
For all the offensive talent in the NFL, Donald is the one player that seems to have no peers. Replacing him would be almost impossible. Especially with no draft picks to speak of.
Cooper Kupp was fittingly named MVP for his two-touchdown performance and his role in the Rams game-winning drive.
The Rams now head into the off-season as Super Bowl Champions and as one of the favourites to repeat that success next year.
So just how fancied are the Rams to win the Super Bowl again next year? Well bet365 Sport have very early odds out and the Rams are 10/1 to repeat their success.
They are behind the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills who are the 13/2 joint favourites, with the San Francisco 49ers at 12/1, and the Bengals and Green Bay Packers rated as 14/1 chances.
The Dallas Cowboys are 16/1 with the Titans, Broncos and Ravens at 20/1.
However, with the Draft and Free Agency still to come, so much could change in the NFL over the next few months that could affect these prices and it is going to be interesting to see what does happen, especially for those teams ranked as favourites by the bookmakers next year.
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