It was a matchup full of superstars in Hollywood. The Los Angeles Rams hosted the Cincinnati Bengals in SoFi Stadium in Super Bowl 56. The Rams came into the game 15-5 and the Bengals came into the game 13-7.
Early on it looked like Odell Beckham Jr. was on his way to a dominating performance, on the Rams’ second drive Matt Stafford found Odell on a perfectly run fade route to the right side of the endzone, giving the Rams a 7-0 lead with 6:22 left in the first quarter. Two drives later Joe Burrow hit Ja’marr Chase for 46 yards to give the Bengals instant scoring position. The Bengals settled for a field goal, bringing it to a 7-3 ball game. On the next drive, Offensive player of the year Cooper Kupp caught a touchdown from Matthew Stafford in the back of the endzone. The extra point was mishandled by holder Johnny Hecker, bringing the game to a score of 13-3. The Bengals then went on a 12 play, 74 yard drive that lasted 7 minutes, ending on a trick play that had running back Joe Mixon throwing the ball, as he found Tee Higgins in the back of the endzone for a touchdown, making it 13-10.
On the next drive, Odell Beckham tore the same ACL he tore a year ago against the Bengals, after turning back to catch a pass from Stafford. Stafford threw an interception to Jessie Bates a few plays later. After 2 punts, we had halftime. At halftime with the score 13-10 with the Rams in front, we were treated to a halftime show by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem, with apparences from 50 Cent and Anderson Paak. We saw The Next Episode, California Love. In Da Club, Family Affair, No More Drama, M.a.a.D City, Alright, Lose Yourself and Still D.R.E. performed by the group of legends.
The second half started with a controversial bang, as Joe Burrow hit Tee Higgins on a 75 yard bomb on the first play after half, giving the Bengals a 17-13 lead. Replay showed that Higgins tugged on Ramsey’s face mask causing Ramsey to fall down, but no flag was thrown. The very next play, the Rams threw an interception to Chidobe Awuzie. After Burrow was sacked twice on the ensuing drive by Aaron Donald, who NBC’s Rodney Harrison stated may retire if the Rams win, the Bengals settled for 3, giving the Bengals a 20-13 lead. After a 10 play 52 yard drive that resulted in a Rams field goal, bringing it to a 20-16 game, there were 7 straight drives that ended in a punt. The Rams started their last drive with 6 minutes left, and score with 1:35 left after a brilliant 15 play, 79 yard touchdown drive that ended with a Cooper Kupp touchdown over Ei Apple.
The Bengals couldn’t get in field goal range on their last drive of the game as Aaron Donald ripped past Bengals Left Guard Quenton Spain to pressure Joe Burrow, forcing an incompletion. Joe Burrow was sacked a record tying 7 times in this game as the Bengals had no answer for the Rams pass rush. The Rams won 23-20, giving the Rams their first Super Bowl win since 1999. Cooper Kupp won Super Bowl MVP as he finished with 8 catches for 92 yards and a touchdown, with 4 catches 39 yards and a touchdown coming on the Rams last drive.
