I totally understand why Kupp got Super Bowl MVP (though I also get why people would favor Donald - more to come on that magician in a moment). On that final drive, everyone knew Kupp would be the go to, a fact which McVay seemed to finally discover at the end. Kupp was targeted nearly every play late and either caught passes or drew flags (yes, one a soft flag). He scored two TDs including the game winner. He did everything he has all year, despite getting more attention than normal. I could get on the fact the Rams didn't just outright double-team him late, but Kupp the way he was playing would probably have gotten it anyway.
Runner-Up: Aaron Donald (DT, LAR)
He entered the game as the well reputed best defensive player in football. He then proceeded to have a pretty quiet first half being double blocked every play. Of course, he then ends it with two sacks and game changing plays, including the two last plays of the game that short-circuited what seemed like an inevitable game-tying Field Goal drive. Donald is just amazing, a surefire first ballot Hall of Famer that will start getting GOAT Defensive Player considerations. I hope this isn't it, but if it is, what a way to go out.
Goat of the Game: Bengals OL
They were the known huge weakness going in, and actually were doing fairly well in the first half. Then after the pick of Stafford, a few of them got Donald a bit upset, and they were just a disaster thereafter. The right side far worse than the left, but Burrow was just running for his life throughout. It was the clearest matchup edge going into the game, and sometimes, much like last year when Tampa battered the Chiefs OL, it really is just that simple. If there's any clear benefit here for the Bengals it is that they know exactly what they have to improve on.
Runner-Up: Sean McVay's Playcalling
He won the game, and the brilliant idea of 'maybe we should just throw at Kupp' served him well in that last drive, but.... what in the hell was he doing trying to run for basically the entire game until that last drive. The running game has been bad all playoffs for the Rams, and McVay just kept on trying to run. So many terrible runs right into a Bengals defensive line that clearly had a tell or something on when it was a run play. It was a disaster and if not for that last drive he would be having a very hot spotlight on him right now.
Surprise of the Game: Bengals rush defense
The Bengals rush defense is a fairly average unit, and was just plain bad against the Chiefs, so much so people were criticizing the Chiefs for not running more. Well, in this game the exact opposite happened. Some of the football people I follow on Twitter were noting that the Bengals line seemed to have a tell on running plays and just abused the Rams line all night. That was a game winning performance if not for McVay finally relenting on that last drive.
Runner-Up: Rams OL in pass protection
While the Rams run game was a non-factor, the pass protection that was so spotty against the 49ers was great in this one. That first drive was rough with Hendrickson getting around Whitworth twice, but after that Stafford had a lot of tie consistently. The Bengals biggest strength on defense is a consistently good rush, adn while they went the drop-8 route a decent amount of times, they just got no pressure on Stafford. An excellent job by the Rams front-5 all night long.
Disappointment of the Game: The Last Series
Bengals had 2nd and 1 near midfield, with a minute left, and I was figuring we're on track for OT, and a game that deserved an OT and not that farce of Super Bowl LI. But then within seconds it was done. First that bizarre sequence of wasting 20 seconds between plays just for Burrow to essentially throw it away. Then the run on 3rd and 1 right into Donald, and finally the pass that was blown up in seconds by Donald again. Credit Aaron Donald for being the all time great that he is, but for a game that I was really prepping for OT to just see it end like that was shocking.
Runner-Up: Odell Beckham's injury
Beckham's renaissance in LA has been so fun. This was a guy who was doing legendary things through about year three or four in New York, and seeing him battle through adversity and doubters just to show up so huge in the playoffs for the Rams. He was, to me, the most important player on offense aside from Stafford in the NFC Title Game, and he was winning battles all over in that first half with the Bengals doing a reasonable job against Kupp. To see him injured and seems starting an ACL recovery in the face again is just terrible. I truly hope Odell is able to come back and dominate the way he was this season again, be it late in 2022 or 2023.
Team Performance of the Game: Rams pass rush
What else - it was their biggest matchup edge going in and it won them the game. From the play where Burrow was 'sacked' on a 1-yd loss scramble through the end of the game the Rams pass rush was incredible. It kept the team in the game while the Rams were in their "run-the-ball-too-much" malaise. Von Miller was basically as good as he was in Super Bowl 50. They changed alignment slightly to get Donald more single team blocks and it worked perfectly. The pass rush graded out as the most dominant performance of the season and it deserved every bit of hat statistical performance.
Runner-Up: Jamarr Chase and Tee Higgins
Chase was great, with a truly brilliant catch over Ramsey to get the first score, and a couple nice catch and runs. He seemed to win the Ramsey matchup when the Rams went to it. Higgins did really well as a #2 again. Yes, he got away with a facemask on the TD, but he also was held on the FG drive in teh first half that should've set-up a new 1st and Goal. The top Bengals weapons made their mark throughout. Even Uzoma was good in limited action given his injury. The skill position guys came one Tyler Boyd drop away from pitching something close to a perfect game.
Team Laydown of the Week: other Rams WRs
Look, I get it is hard to pin too much blame on non-Kupp WRs, because certainly not having Odell in the second half was a tough spot. But man did Van Jefferson just disappear again - admittedly he could easily have been distracted with the impending birth of his son. Swkwronek was a disaster in his limited time. The receivers did little in the pass game aside from the nice wheel to Henderson in the first half. As always, their main man turned it on late with Kupp's monster drive, but it is scary how shallow that receiving core got when OBJ went out.
Runner-Up: Nothing
Honestly, other than me ignoring the Bengals pass protection because I've already slammed it enough times, there was no other real bad unit. This was just a competitively, if very imperfectly, played game by two teams that each could have easily won. It didn't rise to the level of the Super Bowl two years ago which I termed 'The Even Game' or whatever, a game where every unit had their moment. This was the JV version of that, but in the end after an incredible string of playoff games, it was still worthwhile to not get a blowout.
Storyline that will be Beat Into the Ground: Crowning Matt Stafford
The 'Matt Stafford is now a HOFer' takes started flying the second the game ended. And while this isn't the best day to knock him down a bit, but I do think we have to do a bit of reflection. For someone who's career began right as passing exploded (his first 'healthy' season was 2011 when stats changed forever), Stafford will obviously haw raw totals better than some Hall of Famers, but he's also far beyond below a lot of his peers. Winning one Super Bowl doesn't make you a Hall of Famer, even when you engineer a game winning drive. Stafford isn't Flacco, he's well above that, but one Super Bowl doesn't immediately right off a 2:1 TD to INT ratio for your career in the passing steroid era.
Storyline that should be Beat Into the Ground: Rams Kingmakers
Donald gets a ring. I'm so glad. I've long stated a personal belief that every All Time Great deserves a ring at least once in their career, from Ed Reed getting his in 2012, to Demarcus Ware in 2015, to Andy Reid (coaches too) in 2019. Well, add Donald to that list. But also Andrew Whitworth, who from longevity alone may have a sneaky Hall of Fame case. Seeing Eric Weddle win a ring, and even Odell Beckham. The Rams had a slew of players - of course add Stafford to that list - that have toiled in this league. They assembled a 'Superteam', but only one of those guys had won one (Von). The Rams were able to add a lot of jewlery to barren hands.
Storyline that should be Beat Into the Ground: Bengals rise too quickly?
It's almost become cliche to state the fact that the Bengals may never make it back - that just like Dan Marino, who made a Super Bowl in his second year, getting there early in a career or in a team building effort is not a clear sign you will get back. But I think we're a bit too quick to go doom and gloom. By all accounts this team had no right being in teh came, going from an upstart #4 seed to a team that came back from 21-3 down on teh Chiefs. They also have a singular clear weakness, and its easier to improve, especially with a team that will have a cheap, great QB for a few more years, when you know where you need most to improve. I don't think the Bengals would by any means be the favorite to win the AFC next year, but if you asked me would the Bengals under Burrow get back in the next 5, I would say that is fairly likely.
And why not, a Quick Super Bowl LVII prediction: Bills 31 Rams 20
