Well, thus passes another super bowl. Super Bowl Sunday is officially finished with L.A. beating Cincinnati 23-20. To begin with, I hated it, but that is only because the Bengals lost, and a team from L.A. won. Nothing good, sports wise, comes out of Los Angeles. On second thought, maybe nothing good at all comes out of Los Angeles. But overlooking the unforgivable fact that Los Angeles has won another sports title, I have to admit it was a pretty decent super bowl.
Since the modern sports fan is only interested in watching offense, the game could have been viewed as boring. Each team punted the ball six times, the bengals allowed seven sacks, and the Rams threw two interceptions. But just because the game dragged at times it was very intense, especially the final five minutes. There were moments of excitement and moments of boredom. Moments of flashy offense, like when Joe Burrow threw a 75 yard touchdown pass to Tee Higgins. And moments that were far from flashy, like the 12 punts during the game. L.A dominated early and still led at the half 13-10. But all the momentum swung to begin the second half. During the first play, Tee Higgins caught the 75 yard touchdown pass which was immediately followed by the Bengals intercepting the ball and scoring again.
Then there was a long boring stretch of almost zero offensive activity. And then, there was the final six minutes. They were some of the most suspenseful six minutes I have witnessed, but not in a good way. For someone rooting for the Bengals (against L.A.) like myself, it was not the exciting suspense that is created by a close sports game, but more the kind of suspense created by getting a tooth pulled, or waiting for a court to hand out a guilty verdict, or an execution to take place. From the very beginning of the drive the Bengals seemed doomed. The Rams began a slow tedious drive down the field. Everytime it looked like they were stopped, some miracle, normally in the form of Cooper Kupp saved them. Then there was the two minute goal line stand, during which multiple pass interference flags were thrown against the bengals. Finally, after too many plays and flags to count, the Rams scored, taking the lead by three. The Bengals got the ball back with less than a minute and a half left, and started a very convincing looking drive. But a dumb run play on 3rd and 1 brought up a 4th and 1. Predictably, Joe Burrow was sacked which gave the ball back to L.A. ending the game.
I didn’t even watch any of the post game. I have been told Cooper Kupp won the MVP which he deserved. On the Rams’ game winning drive he caught nearly all the major passes, including the one in the endzone, and ran on 4th and 1 for a first down. Despite my righteous anger at L.A. winning, I am quite happy for Mathew Stafford. The poor man hadn’t won a playoff game till this year and this was not because he was a bad quarterback. He just played for one of, or perhaps the, worst team in the NFL. My general analysis of the game is this. Good super bowl, would have been better if the right team had won.
Source: USA today