Every game of the NFL regular season has led to this. The final game against the best team in each conference. The Bengals and Rams both came into this game ready to put it all on the line. And it produced one of the best Super Bowls that I have gotten to see in my lifetime. The Rams were able to cap off a great season with a Superbowl ring with a final score of 23-20. This game was close, which is exactly how I wanted it to be. But let’s take a more in-depth look at the game.

First quarter

Early in the first quarter we all saw a few empty drives but there is one big takeaway from it, the Bengals’s run defense in this game, was the best run defense I have ever seen. But the pass defense was not the same. With 6:22 left in the first quarter, Odell Beckham Jr. was able to secure a 17-yard touchdown reception. Then the next two drives resulted in punts. But with 1:21 left in the first quarter we saw a Ja’Marr Chase 46-yard reception to put them inside the 15-yard line. And all the Bengals got from that was a field goal. After the first quarter the score is 7-3 in favor of the Rams.

Second quarter

After the Bengals’s field goal attempt, the Rams were able to double down on their touchdown from before. This drive never reached a third down and consisted of two plays of 25 or more yards. Then Cooper Kupp got an 11-yard touchdown. The PAT was not so smooth however, the snap was dropped, and the holder ended up throwing an interception. On the Bengals’s next drive however, they were a lot slower than the Rams, not getting a play above 15 yards, but that didn’t stop them from getting down to the six-yard line where the starting running back was able to throw a touchdown pass to Tee Higgins. This is where the Bengals’s momentum started to build a little bit. After playing a great first half, Odell Beckham Jr. went down with a non-contact knee injury that appears to be a torn ACL. As the drive continued, Matthew Stafford was caught trying to force a ball downfield where Jessie Bates was able to get himself an interception. To end the half however, we saw another two drives that resulted in punts. The score at halftime was 13-10 for the Rams.

Third quarter

The third quarter started with a bang for the Bengals, they exploded for a one play, 75-yard touchdown for Tee Higgins. Luckily for the Bengals the refs missed a clear penalty as Tee Higgins ripped the facemask of Jalen Ramsey to get open for the 75-yard touchdown. Then to make matters worse for the Rams, the very next play Matt Stafford threw an Interception to give the Bengals great field position. The Bengals however were only able to get a field goal because Aaron Donald and this Rams’s pass rush were able to wake up and play some great football. When the Rams got the football back, they were able to start slowly marching down the field before the Bengals’s defense stood up to hold them to a field goal. Then to end the third quarter we saw three punts. The score after three quarters was 20-16 in favor of the Bengals.

Fourth quarter

The start of the fourth quarter didn’t really lead to anything. The punt trend continued from the last quarter producing another four punts in a row. Which already takes away half of the fourth quarter. The Rams’s offense is the next team to do anything with the ball that is not a punt. On this drive Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp were able to combine for five catches, 46 yards in the air, eight yards on the ground and a game-changing touchdown. Then when the Bengals got the ball back, they started hot. They got an immediate 17 yards to Ja’Marr Chase. Then they got nine yards on the next play. On second-and-one, most teams are in a good spot to take a shot downfield, because if you don’t get it, you only have to get one yard, so it is not too big of a deal. But when Aaron Donald is on the team, it’s a big deal. They try to run for the yard, but Aaron Donald gets into the backfield and pulls the running back backwards making it a fourhth-and-one. To seal the game Aaron Donald finds his way into the backfield again to chase down Joe Burrow, he grabs Burrow and yanks him down but not before Burrow throws a desperation pass that ends up falling incomplete. With that the Rams were able to take home the Lombardi trophy, and Cooper Kupp was able to take home Superbowl MVP.