Rams, Bengals hit Super Bowl jackpot
Both teams pull out tight games with field goals
Matt Gay kicked a 30-yard field goal with 1:46 remaining, sending the Los Angeles Rams to the Super Bowl for the second time in four seasons after notching a 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday night at Inglewood, Calif.
Travin Howard recorded the game-clinching interception with 1:09 left as Los Angeles snapped a six-game losing streak against the 49ers. Cooper Kupp caught 11 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns, and Matthew Stafford completed 31 of 45 passes for 337 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for the Rams.
Los Angeles will face the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl on Feb. 13 in its home stadium in Inglewood. The Bengals defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC title game earlier Sunday.
The Super Bowl appearance will be the fifth in franchise history for the Rams — two coming when the franchise was located in St. Louis.
Jimmy Garoppolo completed 16 of 30 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns for San Francisco, which blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Deebo Samuel and George Kittle caught scoring passes, and Jimmie Ward had an interception.
Gay’s game-winning boot was set up by Stafford’s 25-yard completion to Kupp to the 49ers’ 12-yard line.
After the score, San Francisco couldn’t move the ball, and Aaron Donald’s pressure forced Garoppolo to make a desperate underhanded toss that Howard picked off to seal the victory.
Odell Beckham Jr. caught nine passes for 113 yards for Los Angeles, which outgained the 49ers in total yards 396 to 282 and had big edges in offensive plays (76 to 50) and first downs (25 to 16).
The 49ers led 17-7 after Garoppolo spotted a wideopen Kittle in the end zone and connected on a 16-yard scoring pass with 1:59 remaining in the third quarter.
Los Angeles responded with Stafford tossing an 11-yard scoring pass to Kupp to cut the deficit to three with 13:30 left in the game.
The Rams tied the score at 17 on their next possession when Gay booted a 40-yard field goal with 6:49 left in the game.
BENGALS STUN CHIEFS TO CLINCH LONG-AWAITED BOWL RETURN
For the first time since 1989, the Bengals are headed to the Super Bowl.
And after playing in the Super Bowl the previous two seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs are headed home.
Rookie kicker Evan Mcpherson made a 31-yard field goal in overtime Sunday, capping an 18-point rally by the Bengals en route to a 2724 upset of the host Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.
Cincinnati, which had the worst record in the NFL two seasons ago, overcame a 21-3 first-half deficit against Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City, holding the high-powered Chiefs to three points after halftime.
Joe Burrow threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns, and Mcpherson went four for four on field goals for the fourth-seeded Bengals, who will face the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl to be played in Inglewood, Calif., on Feb. 13.
“We’ve got a special team, and we’ve overcome a lot of deficits this year,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “We always believe in all three of our phases. Everyone stepped up. We’re not done yet.”
Mahomes passed for 275 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions, for Kansas City. The second-seeded Chiefs, who got the ball first in overtime last weekend and drove for the winning touchdown against Buffalo in the divisional playoffs, again won the overtime coin toss Sunday.
However, Mahomes was intercepted on the third play on a deep ball that was broken up by Jessie Bates III and intercepted by Vonn Bell. Burrow and Joe Mixon helped move the ball deep into Kansas City territory, and Mcpherson made his kick with 9:22 left to stun the home crowd.
“Usually when you lose a coin flip to those guys, you’re going home,” Burrow said. “But our defence really stepped up and made plays in the second half.”
With the game tied 21-21, Mcpherson snuck a 52-yard field goal inside the left upright with 6:04 to play in the fourth quarter, giving the Bengals their first lead of the game.
That, of course, left more than enough time for Mahomes, who drove the Chiefs inside the Cincinnati 10 with a chance to tie or win.
On the next-to-last play of regulation, Mahomes attempted to buy time deep in the pocket before he was stripped of the ball by Cincinnati’s Sam Hubbard. Kansas City recovered, but it forced Harrison Butker to attempt a 44-yard field goal, which he drilled as times expired to force overtime.
“When you’re up 21-3 in a game, you can’t lose it,” Mahomes said, “and I put that on myself.”
The Bengals finally generated momentum in the final 65 seconds of the first half, beginning with Samaje Perine taking a screen pass 41 yards for a touchdown to get the visitors within 21-10. Then after the Chiefs drove to the Cincinnati 1, the Bengals tackled Hill inbounds on the final play of the half, causing the typically crisp Kansas City offence to leave points on the table.
“I was hoping we could get the ball in the end zone,” Reid said. “I probably gave them the wrong play . ... I probably could’ve given them something better than that.”