Super Bowl LVI Recap: Stafford, Kupp, and McVay Deliver Again

A year ago, Ed wrote that Matthew Stafford makes the Rams a Super Bowl favorite. On Super Bowl Sunday, Stafford not only validated that prediction, but he did the same for his career. His “no-look” pass that sprung Cooper Kupp for 22 yards on the game-winning drive will go down as one of the most impressive and critical throws in Super Bowl history. But that wasn’t the only play that led the Rams to their first Lombardi Trophy in 22 years.

Let’s dive into the All-22.

Rams Passing Game Too Much for Bengals Early

The game started out just how the Rams wanted it to on offense. We wrote coming into this game about the ways Sean McVay is able to generate big plays using the same route concepts over and over but doing so out of different looks. The concept we focused on was the post-wheel, which just happened to be the route combination that led to L.A.’s first touchdown.

The Rams usually feature Cooper Kupp on these plays. This time, however, they aligned in trips to the right with Kupp aligned to the opposite side away from the design of the play. You can also notice that the Rams had running back Darrell Henderson on the perimeter to the left and tight end Brycen Hopkins on the perimeter to the right. This was to try and get an indicator of the coverage, something the Rams would try to do all night to combat Lou Anarumo’s disguised looks:

With safety Jessie Bates over Hopkins and linebacker Germaine Pratt over Henderson, Stafford knew he had man coverage. The two posts on the outside would remove the defenders on the perimeter, and that left Odell Beckham Jr. with lots of space to run his wheel route from the #3 inside slot position:

Stafford then put the ball on the money:

Two drives later, the Rams mixed more great play design with execution. First, they extended the drive with a 35-yard gain on 3rd-and-11. They did so by attacking a coverage the Bengals repeatedly used with success in the AFC Championship Game against the Chiefs.

Below, you can again see the initial alignment with a tight end Brycen Hopkins and running back Darrell Henderson again starting on the perimeter. The Bengals matched up with a linebacker on Henderson and Tre Flowers (their cornerback used to cover tight ends) on Hopkins. Then they motioned inside. Stafford knew this would be some kind of man coverage:

The Bengals would drop a safety into the middle of the field as a robber to handle any in-breaking routes:

However, the Rams would run dual deep-crossing routes designed to create traffic inside for Bengals defenders to fight through:

The robber defender in the middle (who was focused on Kupp’s route) ended up picking Chidobe Awuzie, who was responsible for Beckham in man coverage. The result was a wide-open Beckham for 35 yards:

The Rams would find themselves in the end zone just a few plays later. Again, great design and execution would make it happen. Here, L.A. used jet-sweep action with wide receiver Van Jefferson and a run fake to running back Darrell Henderson, both to the left side of the formation:

The run fake got cornerback Eli Apple looking in the backfield and held him near the line of scrimmage. And because Cooper Kupp’s initial path at the snap was inside, Apple didn’t seem to suspect that Kupp could threaten his zone until it was too late. That gave Kupp just enough time to sneak behind him:

That was a pretty precise throw by Stafford as well.

Beckham Down, Kupp Doubled

Something happened on the way to a dominant offensive performance to cap a dream season for the Rams. The injury to Beckham absolutely played a huge role because it allowed the Bengals to give extra attention to Kupp.

Cincinnati found multiple ways to take Kupp away on 3rd down throughout the rest of the game. On Stafford’s first interception, they played Cover-3. But instead of rushing 4, they rushed 3 and used the extra defender to play man coverage on Kupp:

On this third down, they played Cover-1 (man-free). But instead of the hole defender playing in the middle of the field, he cheated to Kupp’s side to help out on any in-breakers:

On this 3rd down, the Bengals would again play man-free. This time, they had linebacker Logan Wilson showing a blitz up the middle. He would then drop out to provide help inside on Kupp. Stafford was left to work the trips bunch to the other side on a route combination that was…poorly executed:

There were also plenty of mistakes committed by the Rams in the middle part of the game. A safely placed throw by Stafford to Ben Skowronek turned into an interception after he tipped the ball into the air. There were a couple of opportunities Stafford couldn’t get to because of timely pass rushes by Cincinnati. McVay’s “Philly Special” playcall on 3rd-and-5 and his insistence on sticking with the run thwarted several second-half drives as well. The Rams were on the verge of blowing a great opportunity.

The Game-Winning Drive

L.A. managed to turn it around in the biggest moment of the game, as they have throughout most of the 2021 season. They did it on the strength of the same elements of their offense that had taken them this far in the first place: McVay’s play design and the execution of Kupp and Stafford.

The key play came on a concept that had been used earlier in the game, just out of a different look (stop me if you’ve heard this before). This was a 3rd down in the 2nd quarter. To the three-receiver side, the Rams had a hook, a wrap-in, and a shallow crosser called:

The shallow crosser would keep the underneath defender in the middle of the field from impacting the play, allowing Stafford to isolate the Wrap-in/hook combination:

On their final drive, the Rams would run the same concept out of a 2-man look, this time with Kupp running the wrap-in:

The Bengals actually had it covered pretty well, though, with two underneath defenders to account for the two routes. But Stafford used his head and eyes to manipulate the coverage. As he climbed the pocket, he looked right at Hopkins on the Hook route. This got safety Von Bell to abandon his zone and break on Hopkins:

Stafford would then throw this ball to Kupp over the middle with his head still facing Hopkins on the outside. While his eyes were on Kupp, the position of his head created the illusion that he was looking to the outside:

Tough to blame Bell there considering it was late in the play and Stafford appeared to be committing to a pass to Hopkins.

From the end zone angle, you can see that it wasn’t just Stafford’s “no-look” throw that manipulated Cincinnati defenders and created the window inside. He also initially looked left at the snap and then eyed backside linebacker Logan Wilson (#55) during his drop. This kept Wilson from becoming a factor on Kupp’s route:

Then he manipulated Bell as he climbed the pocket:

That’s called creating a completion. An elite play from an elite quarterback.

Moments later, the Rams would take the lead on the strength of another perfect throw:

That wasn’t a bad route either as Kupp got Eli Apple moving inside just enough to create room to the sideline.

The Bengals defense played well on Super Bowl Sunday, providing disguised looks that kept the Rams off balance for most of the final 2 1/2 quarters. The different ways they were able to hide how they would double Kupp on 3rd down kept the Rams guessing as well.

On that final drive, though, Cincinnati probably should have played more of those double-team looks on Kupp and a little less zone. Yes, you can make the argument that there was still enough time left for the Rams to run their entire offense, and you can’t double Kupp every play without becoming vulnerable elsewhere. That said, the Rams were having trouble getting much going to anyone other than Kupp. And the Bengals were smothering the run game. Why not double Kupp on early downs too with the Super Bowl on the line? Why not double him on every single goal-to-go snap?

As it turned out, L.A. was able to capitalize on their final drive by attacking on those early downs when they were getting more favorable zone looks. And Stafford was able to take advantage inside the 10 by targeting Kupp in single coverage.

To be fair to Anarumo and the Bengals, Kupp wasn’t exactly wide open on those final completions. Which is why you could make the case that Matthew Stafford should have been the game’s MVP. Kupp wasn’t a bad bad choice, necessarily (Aaron Donald would have been a good one too). But Kupp was contained for the most part up until that final drive, and the key completions that gave the Rams the win were created more by great quarterback play on the part of Stafford. There are a lot of other big-name quarterbacks that would have been given the award with a similar performance to what Stafford delivered.

Super Bowl MVP award aside, Stafford’s dream season is a perfect example of how even great quarterbacks can’t win without help around them. Stafford didn’t just suddenly discover how to be a Super Bowl winning quarterback when he set foot in L.A. His ability to make deep playoff runs (or any playoff runs) was limited by the teams he played on in Detroit. The skills have always been there. The opportunities haven’t.

But now he doesn’t have to answer those questions about being a winning quarterback ever again.