INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald were two huge reasons why the Los Angeles Rams reached the Super Bowl, and they were responsible for the team’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Rams are Super Bowl champs for the second time in team history after Kupp grabbed a late touchdown pass and Donald came up with two big defensive plays in the waning moments of a 23-20 comeback win over the Bengals.
Cincinnati’s defense had been the story much of the game, keeping the Rams out of the end zone in the second half until Matthew Stafford engineered a 15-play, 79-yard TD drive that ended with Kupp’s one-yard TD reception with 1:25 remaining. Kupp had four receptions for 39 yards on the championship drive.
Donald closed out the win. On the Bengals’ final drive, he stopped Samaje Perine a yard short of a first down. Donald clinched it on the next play by wrapping up Joe Burrow on fourth down, forcing the Cincinnati quarterback to heave a soft, floating pass that fell incomplete.
Donald had two sacks and Kupp hauled in eight passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns to earn Super Bowl MVP honors. Stafford atoned for his two interceptions by throwing for three scores, completing 26 of his 40 passes for 283 yards.
Burrow was 22 of 33 for 263 yards, one TD and no interceptions. He also was sacked seven times, tying a Super Bowl record set by Roger Staubach in Super Bowl 10.
It’s the first Super Bowl championship for a Rams team based in Los Angeles. Their other Super Bowl win came as the St. Louis Rams in 2000.
The Bengals are now 0-3 in Super Bowls.
