11 Things to know ABOUT THE Rams and Bengals
GAME CHANGER
Quarterback Matthew Stafford turns 34 on Monday, and unless the 13-year veteran pulls a Tom Brady
and plays for another decade, there’s no chance he’ll approach Brady’s record of seven Super Bowl wins. But Stafford can change his legacy with one Super Bowl victory, proving that, in a better situation, he could have been in a similar class as Brady, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees. Stafford played his first 12 seasons in Detroit and went to the playoffs only three times, going 0-3 in those games before being traded to the Rams in 2021. He is 3-0 this postseason, completing 146 of 217 passes for 1,813 yards and 10 touchdowns against Arizona, Tampa Bay and San Francisco.
AT WHIT’S END
Andrew Whitworth, at 40, is the oldest player to start an NFL game at left tackle. In what could be his final game, the Rams veteran is seeking a Super Bowl win over the team he spent his first 11 years with and the coach he recommended for the Bengals job. Zac Taylor, 38, was a receivers coach in 2017 and quarterbacks coach in 2018 under the Rams’ Sean McVay, and he received a glowing review from Whitworth before being hired as Cincinnati’s head coach in 2019. Whitworth went 0-6 in the playoffs with Cincinnati from 2006 to 2016. He was low-balled in free agency by the Bengals before signing with the Rams in 2017.
ROLE REVERSAL
Cooper Kupp shared a long, emotional embrace with fellow receiver Robert Woods after the Rams’ 20-17 NFC title-game win over the 49ers. Kupp, who caught 11 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns in the game, was in full uniform. Woods, who suffered a season-ending knee injury on Nov. 5, was in street clothes. Three years ago, it was Kupp who suffered a season-ending knee injury in November and watched the Rams’ 13-3 loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. Woods caught five passes for 70 yards in that game. This season, it will be Woods cheering on Kupp, who became the fourth receiver in NFL history to win a triple crown, leading the NFL with 145 catches for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns.
WEDDLE HAS THE METTLE
There was a fantasy-camp feel to Eric Weddle’s January decision to come out of retirement to bolster a depleted Rams safety corps. Sure, the 37-year-old might be an upgrade on the depth chart, but how much impact could a guy who hadn’t played an NFL game in two years have? Plenty, it turns out. Weddle, who had a successful 13-year career with the Chargers, Ravens and Rams, played 19 of 56 defensive snaps (34%) against Arizona, 61 of 72 snaps (85%) against Tampa Bay and all 51 snaps against San Francisco, making nine combined tackles, one for a loss, in the NFC title-game win.
FINAL BOX TO CHECK
Aaron Donald has achieved all he can as a football player — seven AllPro and eight Pro-Bowl selections, three AP defensive player of the year awards. Now the 6-foot-1, 280pound lineman, who has 98 career sacks and has been the heart and soul of the Rams defense for eight years, has a chance to win that elusive Super Bowl ring. Donald struggled in his only other Super Bowl appearance against the Patriots after the 2018 season, registering five tackles and one quarterback hit but no sacks or tackles for loss. “I know we’ll be back,” Donald said after that game. And here he is.
THE SACK MASTER
Von Miller is not the type to shrink from the spotlight. The game-wrecking outside linebacker, acquired from Denver on Nov. 1 for a pair of 2022 draft picks, was the most valuable player of Super Bowl 50, accumulating 2½ sacks for a loss of 27 yards, six tackles, two forced fumbles — one that resulted in a touchdown — two quarterback hits and one pass breakup in the Broncos’ 24-10 win over Carolina after the 2015 season. Miller, the NFL’s active leader with 115½ sacks, had a sack and three tackles for a loss in the wildcard win over Arizona and a key strip-sack and fumble recovery in the divisional win over Tampa Bay.
SPECIAL DELIVERY
Special teams went from a liability for much of the season to a strength in the postseason with punter Johnny Hekker regaining his AllPro form and Brandon Powell providing a spark on kickoff and punt returns after being signed in early December. Kicker Matt Gay has been solid throughout, making 32 of 34 field-goal attempts in the regular season and seven of nine in the playoffs, including a 30-yard walk-off winner at Tampa Bay and game-tying (40 yards) and winning (30 yards) field goals in the fourth quarter against San Francisco.
GREEN AKERS
The Rams figured secondyear pro Cam Akers would be lost for the season last July when he underwent surgery to repair a torn right Achilles tendon, a procedure that normally takes nine months to a year to recover from. But the running back, thanks to the work of noted surgeon Neal ElAttrache, returned in less than six months — in time for the regular-season finale — and was the featured back in the last two games, rushing for 96 yards in 37 carries against the Buccaneers and 49ers. Akers will split time with Sony Michel in the Super Bowl.
TALL ORDER
Lockdown cornerback Jalen Ramsey, a three-time All-Pro selection who was one of several star-caliber players the Rams acquired with the Super Bowl in mind, will be tasked with slowing Cincinnati’s talented pass-receiving duo of Ja’Marr Chase, the 6-1, 200-pound speedster who caught 81 passes for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, and Tee Higgins, the wiry 6-4, 215-pounder who caught 74 passes for 1,091 yards and six touchdowns. The duo has combined to catch 34 passes for 488 yards in three playoff games.
DOWN WITH OBJ
Odell Beckham Jr. was labeled as a “me-first” guy and a distraction in five seasons with the New York Giants and two-plus seasons in Cleveland, but several Rams have called him a “great teammate” since his November acquisition. The sure-handed receiver has been a perfect complement to Kupp, catching 27 passes for 305 yards and five touchdowns in eight regular-season games and 19 passes for 236 yards and one touchdown in three playoff games, including a nine-catch, 113-yard effort against the 49ers.
TIGHT SPOT
Kupp and Beckham are Stafford’s primary targets, and speedy wideout Van Jefferson is a nice deep threat, but the Bengals can’t sleep on the Rams’ tight ends. Tyler Higbee caught 61 passes for 560 yards and five touchdowns in the regular season and nine passes for 115 yards in the playoffs before suffering a sprained knee ligament against the 49ers that could sideline him for the Super Bowl. The 6-6, 262pound Kendall Blanton, who spent most of the season on the practice squad, replaced Higbee and caught five passes for 57 yards last weekend.