A few short months after making a big trade for quarterback Matthew Stafford, the Rams proved they made the right move, coming away with a close 23-20 win over the Bengals, who were fresh off an upset of the Kansas City Cheifs.

Stafford had spent his entire career with the Detroit Lions, putting together some pretty successful campaigns. Unfortunately, his performance never amounted to anything for Detroit and we never saw his full potential. In the off-season, he was traded to the Rams in exchange for Jared Goff and multiple draft picks.

Satfford led the Rams to a 12-5 record and they entered the playoffs as a Wild Card team. After a dominant win over the Cardinals, they upset the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then took that momentum and got a huge 20-17 win over the 49ers in the NFC championship.

While Stafford and the Rams were expected to have a pretty good campaign, their Super Bowl appearance was a surprise. As far as the Bengals, they were arguably the season’s biggest surprise. After a 4-11-1 season in the 2020-21, they surprised the league by reaching the playoffs with a 10-7 record. They continued their Cinderella story, defeating the Raiders and the one-seeded Titans in the first and second rounds of the playoffs. Their biggest achievement, however, came when they shocked the world by beating the heavily-favored Kansas City Cheifs 27-24 in the AFC championship.

When it came to the big game, it was Cooper Kupp who scored a late touchdown to seal the game for Los Angeles and won MVP honors.