Sean McVay stood alone on the Los Angeles Rams’ sideline. A long-sleeved royal blue t-shirt accentuated his muscular physique. A Bose headset covered his ears and short spiky hair, in his hand was a laminated play sheet. This was the look of the Rams’ young head coach. The wunderkind composer that despite a bevy of head-scratching decisions, defeated his biggest rival, orchestrating a trip to the Super Bowl like a symphony.
The Rams rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half to defeat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 at SoFi Stadium in the NFC Championship Game. Snapping the Rams seven-game losing streak against their fiercest rivals.
Matthew Stafford threw for 337 yards and two touchdowns, both to Cooper Kupp who finished with 11 catches for 142 yards and two scores.
The Rams will head to the Super Bowl for the fifth time in their franchise history and second in the last three years.
The back-and-forth battle began on the Rams second drive. Stafford drove the Rams offense down to the San Francisco 3-yard line, but his 3rd and goal pass to Cooper Kupp was tipped into the air and intercepted by Jimmie Ward in the end zone. It was Stafford’s first interception of the postseason, and the third time Ward had intercepted him this season.
Despite the turnover, the Rams struck first when Stafford found Kupp, the NFL’s leading receiver this season, in the far right corner of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 8:46 remaining in the 2nd quarter.
The 49ers would then run off 17 straight unanswered points, starting with a screen pass on San Francisco’s ensuing drive that Deebo Samuel took 44 yards to the house, bulldozing Rams defenders along the way for the game-tying score. Samuel’s touchdown ended a six-quarter scoreless streak for San Francisco.
After a 54-yard missed field goal for the Rams gave the 49ers great field position, Robbie Gould ended the half with a 38-yard chip shot that sent San Francisco into the locker room with the lead. During the 2021 postseason, teams leading at halftime were 8-2 entering Sunday’s contest.
The Rams bad luck boiled over to start the second half. A quarterback sneak by Stafford on 4th and 1 fell centimeters shy of the first down and gave the 49ers the ball back with great field position again. San Francisco struck gold 10 plays later when Garoppolo found tight-end George Kittle for 16-yard touchdown pass.
The Rams would battle back on their next possession. Stafford capped off a seven-play, 75-yard drive when he found Kupp streaking into the end zone for the 11-yard touchdown pass that cut the 49ers lead to 17-14.
After another bad decision by McVay to challenge a 3rd and 2 stop by the defense, the Rams forced a punt and got the ball back deep in their own territory. Two plays into the drive, Stafford found Odell Beckham Jr. down the sideline for a 30-yard catch that included a helmet-to-helmet hit for an extra 15 yards. A few plays later, Matt Gay connected on a 39-yard field goal that tied the game at 17-17.
After a quick three-and-out by the Rams’ defense, Los Angeles drove the length of the field for the go-ahead 29-yard field goal.
On the ensuing 49ers drive, Garoppolo was hurried and his shovel pass fell off the fingers of JaMycal Hasty and into the awaiting arms of Travin Howard for the game-sealing interception.
The Rams will now stay home and become the second straight team to host the Super Bowl when they face the Cincinnati Bengals on February 13, 2022 at SoFi Stadium.
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Source: NBC Los Angeles
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