Amid the rumors of Tom Brady’s retirement, the big underdog Cincinnati Bengals made the surprise duel in the Super Bowl perfect. The team around quarterback Joe Burrow defeated the blundering superstar Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs 27:24 and will challenge the favored Los Angeles Rams in the final in two weeks.
A year after the premiere by football legend Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team from California won the Vince Lombardi Trophy by beating the San Francisco 49ers 20:17 as the second NFL team, also in their own stadium. Before the semi-finals of the National Football League, speculation about the end of Brady’s career had dominated, in the Super Bowl another big name will now be missing after the playoff of the most successful professional in history against the Rams.
Instead of a third final in a row, Mahomes has to watch the duel on TV on February 13th. And that despite an early 21:3 lead against the underdog and all the trumps in their own hands at the beginning of extra time. Because like the spectacle the week before against the Buffalo Bills, the Chiefs again had possession first. All that was missing was an own touchdown. Instead, however, the Bengals intercepted Mahomes’ third pass and did the job a little later with a converted field goal from kicker Evan McPherson: 27:24. The surprise was perfect. “If you lose the coin toss against these guys, you usually go home,” Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow told CBS. “I’m just a bit speechless right now.”
Along with pass receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who had a touchdown, and kicker McPherson, Burrow stands for the Bengals’ hopes for the first Super Bowl victory in their history – the two previous finals in 1982 and 1989 were lost to San Francisco. None of the three football pros were born then. Last season, the Bengals were bottom of their division at the end of the main round. Just like the year before.
With the win against San Francisco, the dream of the Super Bowl title is almost within reach
The Rams also missed the playoffs two years ago – the conditions for the Los Angeles team were completely different recently. Three years ago, the Rams were in the Super Bowl with their coach Sean McVay, who was only 33 at the time, and lost to the New England Patriots. Since then, the Rams have given up even more of their medium-term future for stars in the present and invested in a team that can win the Super Bowl. And best of all in the SoFi Stadium, which opened in 2020, which is considered the most expensive stadium in the world at a cost of around five billion euros and is now the venue.
With the win against San Francisco, that dream is almost within reach. In 1999, when the Rams won their only Super Bowl title to date, the team played under the St. Louis Rams name. The organization has only been back in Los Angeles since 2016. Many residents in LA keep their fingers crossed for other NFL teams, which was also seen and heard on Sunday. So many spectators wore 49ers jerseys and made a ball possession noise for the Rams that at times felt like an away game.
In the next two weeks, however, the city will rally behind the Rams. It was very questionable for a long time on Sunday that this would happen – the Rams were still 7:17 behind in the last quarter. But then pass recipient Cooper Kupp scored his second touchdown and two field goals brought the lead. Because Jimmy Garoppolo, in what was probably his last game as quarterback for the 49ers, then under great pressure only threw the ball uncleanly to the teammate and it became an interception, the comeback was perfect.
It is unclear where the 30-year-old Garoppolo will play next season. His days in San Francisco seemed numbered even before the game. There is a foreseeable vacancy in Florida: Despite the confusion on Saturday, it is still the more likely option that Tom Brady will end his career and no longer fulfill his one-year contract with the Bucs. Officially, the decision of the 44-year-old is still pending.