The Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams are set to meet in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 13. The Bengals claimed the AFC Title Sunday with a come from behind 27-24 overtime win in Kansas City, while the Rams also came from behind later in the evening to capture the NFC in Los Angeles 20-17 over the San Francisco 49ers.
At Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, the Chiefs got out to a 21-3 lead but the play of Joe Burrow and the Bengals defense intercepted KC quarterback Patrick Mahomes that led to a game winning field goal in overtime.
Mahomes tossed touchdown passes to Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and Mecole Hardman in the first half as KC led 21-3 early in the second quarter and 21-10 at the half. After a field goal cut it to a Cincinnati 21-13 deficit in the third, B.J. Hill would intercept Mahomes at the Chiefs 30 yard line. That led to a Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase two yard scoring pass, and a two-point conversion pass to Trent Taylor to tie it with 18 seconds left in the quarter. A 52 yard field goal by Evan McPherson would give the guests their first lead of the day with 6:07 to play in regulation. Kansas City (14-6) drove to the Cincinnati five yard line with 1:30 remaining where they had first and goal, but after a short run and back to back sacks taken by Mahomes, Harrison Butker was forced into a 44 yard field goal that tied it and sent it to overtime. The Chiefs got the ball first in the extra session, and on third and 10 at their own 25, Mahomes took a shot down field to Hill that was intercepted by the Bengals Vonn Bell, who returned it five yards to the Cincinnati 45. The guests then marched to the KC 13 yard line where McPherson calmly kicked the game winner for a second straight week to send the Bengals (13-7) to the Super Bowl. Burrow threw for 250 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, Joe Mixon ran for 88 yards on 21 carries, and Tee Higgins had six catches for 103 yards in the win. Kansas City, playing in their fourth straight AFC Championship game at home (now 2-2), got 275 yards passing from Mahomes with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Jarod McKinnon had 65 rushing on 12 attempts, while Kelce led the receiving core with 10 catches for 95 yards and a touchdown.
At SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the LA Rams rallied back from a 17-7 fourth quarter deficit to pull out a three point victory.
Matt Stafford opened the scoring with a 16 yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp early in the second quarter to make it 7-0 Rams. Jimmy Garroppolo responded to that with a pass to Deebo Samuel who did all the work and took it down the right sideline 44 yards to the endzone to tie the game just over 2:30 later. Matt Gay missed a 54 yard field goal on the next possession for LA, before SF kicker Robbie Gould connected on the last play before the half from 38 yards to give the 49ers a 10-7 advantage at the break. The Rams (15-5) went for a fourth down and short at the 49ers 43 yard line almost halfway through the third quarter, but got stopped and San Francisco (12-8) turned that into points when Garroppolo hit George Kittle for a 16 yard TD to extend the lead to 17-7. Stafford then threw his second score of the day early in the fourth, and the second for Kupp from 11 yards to cut it to 17-14. The hosts tied it later set up by a Stafford to Odell Beckham Jr. 29 yard pass, with Gay connecting on a 40 yard field goal with 6:53 left. After a three and out for SF, the Rams regained the lead for good when Gay hit another field goal this time from 30 yards with just under two minutes left. On third and 13 from their own 22 and with heavy pressure on Garroppolo, Travin Howard intercepted a desperation pass to seal it for Los Angeles with just over a minute showing on the clock. Garroppolo passed for 232 yards with two touchdowns and the one interception in crunch time. Samuel was the other offensive leader with four receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown, and also seven rush attempts for 26 yards. Stafford came up big in the win with 337 yards passing with two touchdowns and one interception. Kupp and Beckham Jr. both went over 100 yards, with Kupp catching 11 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns and Beckham with nine grabs for 113 yards.
Super Bowl LVI will be the lowest seeded game in NFL history, as Cincinnati and Los Angeles were both #4 seeds in their respective conference playoffs. The Rams become the second consecutive team to be able to host the big game in their stadium, as Tom Brady and the Buccaneers did the same in winning the Super Bowl last season over the Chiefs at Raymond James in Tampa. The pre-game festivities and team introductions are expected to begin at 6:37 p.m. on Sunday, February 13.
