Well we're here; the final Day of Football of the season. It was a pretty great postseason, with lots of overtime games, lots of big throws and catches, and lots of down-to-the-wire contests. Best ever? I won't go that far; memory tends to favor more recent events. The Super Bowl itself was a mixed bag.
Since Super Bowl Sunday is usually a whole bunch of things plus a football game, I'm going to break this column down accordingly. Starting with the game itself.
Rams 23, Bengals 20. So turns out those who were betting the under, which resulted in the over-under dropping by about 3 points over the course of the two weeks, knew what they were doing. But I think it ultimately finished there in part due to unexpected and unpredictable events, most notably Odell Beckham leaving early with a knee injury. Because prior to that the Rams scored touchdowns on two of their first four drives, and the offense seemed to be clicking. I think we'd have seen 7-10 more points out of the Rams and probably a few more points out of Cincinnati in a more wide-open affair. I can't prove it, of course, but Beckham's departure definitely impacted the Rams offense, which had a tough time sustaining drives from that point forward.
Matthew Stafford threw a pair of interceptions, which some predicted, but played very well. The first pick was a worthwhile gamble (3rd and 14 from the Bengals 43; not in field goal range and a punt would have been no better), while the second should have been caught by Ben Skowronek. Essentially working with one trusted wideout following the Beckham injury, he made every throw on the final drive for the game-winning touchdown, including one of them twice after a penalty. Kudos to the Rams for forcing it into Kupp despite heavy coverage and making it work. This despite a comically ineffective ground game that averaged 1.9 per attempt -- worse if you just look at running backs. Two of the three longest runs all game were by Kupp and Stafford, the latter of whom had his foot turned completely around on one sack.
The Bengals will, and should I think, look back at this one as a colossal missed opportunity. Their defense played pretty great, stuffing the run, getting a ton of pressure on Stafford, and containing Kupp for most of the game, especially after struggling early against Kupp/Beckham. Yes, they were fortunate on a long touchdown to Tee Higgins, and yes they were hurt by a critical Tyler Boyd drop (though I'm not sure they'd have picked up the first down on that play anyway; the defender was right there to maybe stop him short). But after going up 20-13 early in the third quarter, they really only had to string together one decent drive to win the game, and never could. Their final two plays, just 10 to 15 yards out of tying field goal range, are simply inexplicable to me. 3rd and 1 was a Samaje Perine carry (despite Joe Mixon averaging 4.8 per attempt during the game), and was maybe a foot short (as usual, the officials provided a brutal spot that was off by a good half yard). With a better spot, maybe they'd have come up with a better play than their fourth-down pass attempt that was blown up by Aaron Donald. Either way, Mixon needs to be on the field there, not Perine. Lousy choice, and one of several lousy late choices on Cincinnati's part. Burrow getting his knee badly twisted up on a sack (obviously, the 7 sacks were key to Cincinnati's offense doing nothing for most of the second half) might have affected his play down the stretch. In any case: missed opportunity for the Bengals in a very winnable game.
Kendall Blanton as a top-3 option in the passing game didn't happen, because the Rams decided his 5 catches in the NFC Championship Game weren't impressive, electing to feature Brycen Hopkins (4 for 47) instead. Hopkins wasn't even active in the conference title game; he had 1 career catch his first two seasons. If you know anyone who predicted Hopkins' involvement, give that guy your money in the future.
As for where this ranks among Super Bowls from the last 20 years (the 20 years before that were mostly blowouts) I'll put it in the top 10. Better than the recent duds (Rams-Patriots, the two involving the Broncos, and the two involving the Colts), no question, not as good as four others involving New England (Giants twice, Eagles and Falcons). Right down to the wire with both teams having a chance to win and some fantastic game-ending offensive and defensive plays, but not quite as much offense as you'd like. But entertaining, and most of us can remember a time when even that was beyond this game.
MVP. Cooper Kupp richly deserved this award, making huge plays (including a 4th and 1 run) throughout the game-winning drive. He even somehow hung onto a touchdown catch despite getting blasted with a helmet-to-helmet hit that might have concussed him (he seemed a little out of it at times after the game), and when that was erased he still caught the game winner. The lazy vote would have been Stafford, so I'm glad they made the choice they did. Had the Bengals won it would likely have been Burrow.
Officiating. Just two notable plays, aside from the lousy spot I mentioned earlier. Tee Higgins got away with a blatant face-mask on Jalen Ramsey on his long touchdown; had the Bengals won this game that would have been talked about for a while. And then the Rams' game-winning score was set up by a ticky-tack holding penalty near the goal line on Kupp. He was maybe held up a little, but it was far from egregious; it was about 80 percent a really good defensive play. In general, the officials let the players play, so good for them. Bengals fans can lament the holding call, but a big play went their way, too.
Gambling. Square pool fundraisers are all the rage, especially (I think) for parents of teenagers, and I was in a bunch. Usually I pay little attention to this since the odds are so remote of winning regardless of numbers, but I managed to get 4 (Rams) and 0 (Bengals) in one, which seemed pretty good. So yeah, that botched extra point which caused both the halftime and final scores to be 3-0 rather than 4-0 stings quite a bit. It's only money and hey it's a fundraiser and I'm sure the 3-0 people are nice too. But the money would have been nice.
Adding insult to injury, I did a 7-bet parlay where I hit 6 of the 7, and the 7th -- a Joe Mixon touchdown -- was a miss only because you don't get credit for passing scores. So yeah: gambling sucks.
I skimmed over my prop bet column from the other day and think I hit 6 of 11, depending on how you interpret my wishy-washy recommendation on one of them. Kupp caught 2 TDs and won the MVP but still was under on his props for both receptions (8.5) and yards (106), which again makes the point that gambling can be cruel, and that's without even mentioning the Kendall Blanton prop, which seemed like a sure thing until the Rams decided to use Brycen Hopkins instead.
Halftime show. I thought it was great, I think most agree, although I suppose it was not to everyone's taste, and I'm sure some will complain (including perhaps the NFL) about Eminem kneeling, which they told him not to do lol, and perhaps the cut on some of the dancers' outfits, oh dear there are children watching. Music was great and it was a pretty awesome stage.
Commercials. A mixed bag. Who knew electric cars were such a thing, that there would be about 1,000 commercials on them. Laughed at the Seth Rogen-Paul Rudd one, also the Arnold Schwarzenegger Zeus one and the UberEats spot. A couple other clever ones along the way; Amazon Alexa and Rocket Mortgage stand out. Everyone has their favorites and others that fell flat, so a typical year.
Fantasy Football futures. As I write this, I don't know the extent of the Odell Beckham and Joe Burow knee injuries. Obviously if either one involves the ACL, and that seems more likely with Beckham, it's unfortunate. Would certainly increase the chances of Beckham returning to the Rams, although it's a little bit of a crowded situation with Robert Woods coming back. But tough to say Beckham's value is necessarily better anywhere else, unless we're putting him in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers. But the knee injury is a concern.
Seems to be a lot of excitement about Cam Akers for next year. To me the fact he made a miraculous return from an Achilles injury and that Sony Michel will be gone isn't enough to get me excited about him. He was really ineffective on most of his carries, and the Rams might well address the position in the offseason. A note about Darrell Henderson, who will probably only be viewed as a No. 2 and/or passing downs back next year. He had a pretty sweet 15-yard reception down the sideline to keep the Rams' field goal drive alive in the third quarter; without that play, maybe the game turns out differently. But anyway, I won't be targeting Akers in offseason dynasty trades.
Think the Bengals need to upgrade their offensive line? Burrow getting sacked 7 times yesterday and being under heavy pressure throughout the failed final drive was far from surprising. They made the right choice taking JaMarr Chase over Penei Sewell. But now they've got to upgrade that line or they not only won't be going back to Super Bowls, they won't be able to keep Burrow in one piece.
Final thoughts. That's a wrap on this column for another year. The offseason is short (a week shorter than usual!), so we'll continue to talk football here on a near-daily basis. I appreciate all the feedback all year long, and enjoy the back-and-forth we often get in the comments. Have a great offseason, all.