The National Football League held their 56th Super Bowl championship game this past Sunday, February 13th, 2022. The two teams to reach the championship game were the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Rams won the game 23-20 in their home stadium, SoFi Stadium. The Rams have star players such as quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. while the Bengals have young quarterback, Joe Burrow and his college teammate, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. This pair had never lost a playoff game together, until Sunday night. The game was very back and forth with many equal chances. There were multiple injuries, Odell’s playing was finished for the night due to this but other players such as Burrow continued to play even after limping off the field. Cooper Kupp, who scored the game winning touchdown was awarded the title of Super Bowl MVP. Two other topics being discussed are the commercials and the half time show, as per usual. Super Bowl commercials are always something people look forward to and everyone will be discussing their favorites in these upcoming weeks. The halftime show is also a fan favorite for people that don’t overly enjoy the sport of football. The 2022 halftime show featured Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, and Mary J. Blige.
This Super Bowl definitely kept people on the edge of their seats for the majority of the game. Even in the end score you see that it was a close game with no big blowout for one team. The Bengals were winning until there was a minute and thirty seconds left in the last quarter. Stafford threw to Kupp when he found him in the endzone, giving them six points to put them ahead. They then kicked for the extra point and were up by seven. The Bengals got on the field with the intention to obviously get back down field and score. Burrow and his offensive line could not make it all the way across the field and their possession of the ball was gone because the Bengals were on their fourth down and one yard to go at the but Joe got hit again causing him to release the ball and running back Samaje Perine just could not get to where the ball was falling in time. This play ended the game due to giving the Rams possession of the ball with just about 40 seconds.
Along with the interesting game there were multiple injuries throughout the game. Odell Beckham Jr, Matthew Stafford, and Joe Burrow were the named players to be injured. OBJ hurt his left knee during a noncontact play in the end of the second quarter and was ruled out of returning in the beginning of the third quarter. Odell had hurt his left knee in the past with a torn ACL during last year’s season when he was playing for the Cleveland Browns. Matthew Stafford also limped off the field at one point in the game. In the second half of the game he came back with a taped up ankle. He finished the rest of the game and ended up a Super Bowl champ so you could say it worked out. Both quarterbacks had some kind of injury during this game. Joe Burrow was seen limping off the field not being able to put much pressure on his right knee. Burrow did not injure the knee that he had previously gotten surgery on so that was a better sign for Bengals fans and for Joe himself. He did not leave the game and was back on the field the next time the Bengals had possession of the ball.
As the game was coming to an end with the Bengals on top the Rams had an amazing drive that ended with Cooper Kupp scoring the game winning touchdown. Cooper had one of the best seasons the NFL has ever seen and had the best receiving season in NFL history. He also won Offensive Player of the Year and received the triple crown meaning he led the NFL receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns this past season. Loads of football fans believed he was worthy of the MVP title including myself.
The two other entertainment aspects mostly talked about when the topic of the Super Bowl is brought up are the commercials and the Half Time Show. The commercials this year were not the best they have ever been but there were definitely some good ones. One of my favorites was the Lays commercial with Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen, telling funny stories that had Lays chips thrown in there somehow. I also enjoyed the Caesars Sportsbook commercials with the Manning brothers including Payton and Eli who are retired quarterbacks from the NFL. The Manning brothers are very funny together and they also have their other brother, Cooper Manning in the commercials too. The HalfTime show was really entertaining for the older generation who grew up with these artists. Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, and Mary J. Blige performed in this year’s HalfTime Show . The musicians performing all became popular in the 1990’s or early 2000’s besides rapper, Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick has just become popular in these past few years. Eminem is still a fan favorite by multiple groups of people along with Snoop. This was one of the better HalfTime shows in the past few years and I frankly do not know many people that disagree with that.