The L.A. Rams Are Going To Host The Super Bowl

Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford had a big part in Rams win.

For the second consecutive season, a participant in the Super Bowl will be playing in their home stadium as the Los Angeles Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers, 20-17 to advance to Super Bowl LVI in two weeks against the Cincinnati Bengals. The game is scheduled to be played at SoFi Stadium, which is the Rams home field. 

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (337 passing yards with two touchdowns and one interception) had a pair of scoring passes to wide receiver Cooper Kupp (11 receptions for 142 yards) and kicker Matt Gay made two field goals, including the game winning 30-yarder with just 1:46 remaining in the game to make the difference in the final outcome. 

The game was scoreless after one quarter, but then Stafford connected with Kupp on a 16-yard TD strike to give the Rams a 7-0 lead with 8:50 left in the second quarter. The Rams scoring drive was a 20 play, 97 yard effort that took 9:33 off the clock. San Francisco tied the game at 7-7 when QB Jimmy Garoppolo (232 yards with two TD and one INT) hooked up with WR Deebo Samuel for a 44-yard score. The 49ers held a 10-7 lead at the half when kicker Robbie Gould made a 38-yard field goal as time expired.  

In the third quarter, Garoppolo threw a 16-yard scoring pass to tight end George Kittle for a 17-7 lead with 2:04 remaining. But the Rams would rally back for 13 unanswered points in the final quarter as Stafford hit Kupp for an eleven yard scoring pass with 13:30 left to play to cut the deficit to 17-14. Gay would kick a 40-yard field goal with 6:49 left to tie it up at 17-17.

Then the Rams defense forced a three-and-out to give the offense the ball back. A ten play, 49-yard drive ensued, with the big play being a 25-yard pass from Stafford to Kupp to help set up the deciding field goal by Gay with 1:46 left to play for a 20-17 Rams lead.

The 49ers had one more chance, but an interception by Rams linebacker Travin Howard off a deflection on 3rd-and-13 with 1:09 remaining sealed the deal and sent the Rams to the Super Bowl.