The Super Bowl was a great success across the board. The Rams and Bengals both showed up hungry for a win. The game went down to the wire and the Rams were able to hold on 23 to 20.

The scoring started quickly with a touchdown by Odell Beckham Jr. that would be one of the two catches the wideout hauled in. Unfortunately, Beckham went down with a knee injury soon after and left the game. The Bengals, for a large portion of the game, were stagnant on offense. However, they were able to score on a Joe Mixon touchdown pass. Yes, Joe Mixon, the runningback threw a touchdown.

The Rams defense was expected to show up big time as they had a huge advantage over the less than impressive Bengals O-line. That’s exactly what they did. The Bengals offense this year and during the playoffs were rolling. However, Joe Burrow found himself running for his life thanks to Von Miller and Aaron Donald. Both of them had an absolute field day. Donald especially was terrific as he compiled two tackles for loss and two sacks. Donald was huge on a critical third-down stop and the 4th & 1 play that won the game for the Rams.

Many considered Donald to be the MVP of the game. That was certainly a fair assessment but the award went to equally important contributor Cooper Kupp. Kupp was nothing short of amazing down the stretch for Los Angeles. He had started slowly as Beckham was getting looks early on. After Beckham went down, Kupp turned into prime Jerry Rice. Nearly every important offensive play went to Kupp in the second half. He picked up several crucial 3rd downs and scored two touchdowns. One of which came after a long drive where he was targeted repeatedly and the Bengals defense could do nothing to stop him.

After the game, many Bengals fans took to Twitter to point out the inconsistency with the officiating. There looked to be a questionable holding call on Bengals linebacker, Logan Wilson, late in the game that if not called, would’ve likely meant a win for Cincinnati. It is certainly true that the officiating had been mostly silent and had let the two teams play freely. That is exactly what happened on the Bengals’ second touchdown in the game caught by Tee Higgins. The touchdown grab was clearly a missed call as Higgins illegally grabbed Rams corner, Jalen Ramsy, by the facemask and threw him aside.

So all in all, both teams had lucky breaks. Nonetheless, it was a fantastic game and a win for football fans.

Article by Payton Hannah