Monday, February 14, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Rams Defeat Bengals 23-20 To Win Super Bowl

The L.A. Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 last night for their first Super Bowl championship in 22 years and second in franchise history, pulling out the win on a touchdown to go ahead with just 1:25 left, in what would be the final score.

Daily Mail graphic 2/14/22


It was the first title for quarterback Matthew Stafford, in his 13th year in the NFL, but his first with the Rams after 12 years with the Detroit Lions. But the MVP didn't go to Stafford, but to wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who caught two of the Rams' touchdown passes, including the one-yard, game-winning one. Kupp, who won the NFL's receiving triple crown this season by leading the league in receptions, yards and receiving touchdowns, finished with eight catches for 92 yards.

The Rams had to overcome the loss of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who scored the first touchdown of the game, but had to leave after injuring his knee late in the second quarter. The defense also stepped up, sacking Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who was playing for the championship in just his second NFL season, a Super Bowl record-tying seven times.

Game Play:

After the Rams got on the board first on Beckham's touchdown, the Bengals answered with a field goal later in the first quarter. L.A. scored first in the second quarter, but they didn't get the extra point because of a botched snap. Cincinnati got their first touchdown later in the second on a play in which Burrow tossed the ball backward to running back Joe Mixon, who then threw a six-yard pass to Tee Higgins in the end zone. They went to halftime with the Rams up 13-10.

The Bengals scored a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the second half, putting them up 17-13 for their first lead of the game, and then got an interception on the next play that led to a field goal. The only other scoring for the rest of the second half was a Rams field goal late in the third quarter, until the decisive 15-play, 79-yard drive that ended with the L.A. touchdown with 1:25 left. Kupp caught four passes for 39 yards and the game-winning score during that drive, and the Bengals were hurt by flags on three straight plays. As the Bengals tried to make it back down the field, Burrow threw incomplete on fourth-and 1 with just 39 seconds to go as he was taken down by future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald. It was then all over, with the Rams just taking one more snap and kneeling down.

Stats and Facts:
  • Cooper Kupp is the eighth wide receiver to win the Super Bowl MVP, and the first since the New England Patriots' Julian Edelman in Super Bowl 53.
  • At 36, the Rams' Sean McVay became the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl. It came one year after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Bruce Arians became the oldest head coach to win a Super Bowl, at age 68.
  • This is the second year in a row that a team won the Super Bowl in their home stadium, after Tampa Bay did it for the first time last year.
  • The Rams become the third franchise ever to win Super Bowls while being located in two different cities, after previously winning in St. Louis. Also doing it were the Colts, who won Super Bowls in Baltimore and Indianapolis, and the Raiders, who did it in Oakland and Los Angeles.
MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT

🎵"AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL"  Los Angeles native Jhené Aiko started the show by performing what The New York Post described as “one of the most sultry, chilled-out versions of 'America the Beautiful' that you’ll ever hear."

Her performance followed a brief hiccup where the cameras panned to Mickey Guyton instead of Aiko while the R&B singer’s name flashed on the screen.

🎵NATIONAL ANTHEM When it really was time for Guyton to take the stage, the 38-year-old country singer blew the audience away with a performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" that Country Living called “one of the best in Super Bowl history.”

Guyton, the first Black woman to ever be nominated for a Grammy for best country solo performance, began singing the National Anthem a capella, and was later accompanied by a grand piano and a diverse choir of 12 singers dressed in white.

The Brothers Osbourne congratulated Guyton on Twitter, writing, “Now the world knows what us in Nashville have known for years. Smashed it, Mickey.”


🎵THE HALFTIME SHOW  Twitter blew up during the epic Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show. Gen-Xers and Elder Millennials, in particular, were calling the late '90s, early '00s nostalgia trip the "best" halftime show ever. Despite the love for the performances online, many are also calling it the "oldest" halftime show ever. With the list of rappers including 34-year-old Kenrick Lamar, 46-year-old 50 Cent, 49-year-old Eminem, 50-year-old Snoop Dogg, 51-year-old Mary J. Blige and 56-year-old Dr. Dre, the group’s combined age was 286.


Snoop kicked things off with a network TV-friendly version of "The Next Episode," before Dre joined him for "California Love." 50 cent then appeared upside-down (spawning several Spider-Man memes) for "In Da Club." Blige looked amazing in silver thigh-highs for performances of "Family Affair" and "No More Drama" before Lamar’s set, which included "M.a.a.D. City" and "Alright."

Eminem caused some controversy by kneeling during his performance of "Lose Yourself" from the 8 Mile soundtrack. According to a report from Puck News, the rapper was told by the NFL not to take a knee during the halftime show, but he did it anyway. The report says organizers also flagged Snoop’s clothing for "possibly appearing gang-related," and lyrics in Dre’s closing song, "Still D.R.E." that referenced the police. Snoop hopped on Twitter after to thank fans "4 a beautiful night."

📺THE COMMERCIALS  Advertisers paid as much as a record $7 million for a 30-second Super Bowl ad this year. There are always many celebrities in the Super Bowls commercials, but that was particularly true this year, with seemingly every other ad featuring a celeb. Humor, as always, was a big factor, and products that were being advertised by several companies included electric vehicles, sports betting and cryptocurrencies.

Here are some of the commercials your listeners may be talking about today:
  • T-Mobile - Miley Cyrus writes and sings a song called, "Do It for the Phones." That comes after an earlier spot in which Dolly Parton said America has a problem with phones on limited 5G networks, and asks Cyrus to use her talents to address it.
  • Expedia - Ewan McGregor talks about all the things you can buy, which are things often advertised in Super Bowl ads, but asks if you think you would loook back and regret the things you didn't buy, or the places you didn't travel instead.
  • Flamin' Hot Doritos and Cheetos - A birdwatcher drops Flamin' Hot Doritos and Cheetos and animals, led by a sloth, come out and start eating them. As they do, they start making sounds that combine into Salt-n-Pepa's 1986 hit, "Push It."
  • Rocket Home/Rocket Mortgage - The commercial starts out like a kids' commercial for Barbie, until we learn that Barbie got her Dream House through Rocket Home, and you can too, also with the help of Rocket Mortage.
  • Salesforce - Matthew McConaughey at first is an an astronaut in space who seems unimpressed. He then, as himself, says it's not time to escape, it's time to engage. In a dig at Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse push and billionaires launching into space, he says, others looks to "the metaverse and Mars, let's stay here and restore ours."
  • \General Motors - The spot for GM's electric vehicles features Mike Myers as Dr. Evil, and Rob Lowe, Seth Green and Mindy Sterling as their characters as well from the Austin Powers movies. Dr. Evil has to save the world first with electric vehicles so he can take over the world,
  • T-Mobile Home Internet - Scrubs actors Zach Braff and Donald Faison sing to the melody of "I Feel Pretty" as Braff realizes he's paying too much for home internet and Faison turns him on to T-Moble's service.
  • Amazon Alexa - Husband and wife Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost are so happy with Alexa they say it's almost like it can read their minds. But they then realize maybe that's not a great thing as it embarrasses them in different situations by revealing what they really think.
  • Hellman's - Former linebacker Jerod Mayo tackles people to keep them from wasting food. When he apologizes for tackling Pete Davidson, who'd told him he's not wasting food, Davidson says, "I get it. I'm very hittable."
  • Sam's Club - Kevin Hart delusionally thinks Sam's Club "Scan and Go" service, in which you can scan prices via an app and pay on your phone, is just for him because he's a VIP.
Other Memorable Ads:
  • BMW - Arnold Schwazenegger is the Greek god Zeus and Salma Hayek his wife, the goddess Hera, who retire to Palm Springs. But Zeus gets frustrated with modern life and people asking him to use his lightning powers to give them a boost, so Hera treats him to BMW's iX electric vehicle as a "pick-me-up."
  • Coinbase - The simple ad had a QR code bouncing around the screen and changing colors as it hit the sides and top and bottom, reminiscent of the bouncing DVD logo meme. When scanned, the code brought viewers to Coinbase’s promotional website, offering a promotion of $15 worth of free Bitcoin to new sign-ups, along with a $3 million giveaway customers can enter. But so many people apparently did it that it crashed the app.
  • Meta Quest 2 - An animatronic dog and other animatronic furry creatures perform together in a band, but the dog gets discarded when the place shuts down. It's saved just in time from destruction and ultimately ends up in a space center, where a young man in the virtual reality exhibit puts the Quest 2 headset on the dog. The dog meets up with his old friends in the virtual reality world and they got to perform together again.
  • Chevy Silverado - The opening theme from The Sopranos is heard and the same opening images of driving from Manhattan to New Jersey are seen, but the camera eventually reveals it's a grown-up Meadow Soprano, played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler, behind the wheel, not Tony Soprano. She stops to charge the electric Silverado, and meets up with brother A.J. Soprano, played by Robert Iler, and the two hug.
  • Disney+ - The ad features Awkwafina speaking about Disney+ showing the "Greatest of All Time" -- G.OA.T. -- in movies and shows, and then shows actual goats dressed up as characters from some of them, including Marvel's Captain America, Star Wars' Chewbacca, 101 Dalmation's Cruella, and Toy Story's Woody.
  • Weather Tech - Weather Tech employees rappel down from a helicopter dressed like a special ops team to put things like floor mats and cargo liners in a man's vehicle.
  • Uber Eats - To advertise that UberEats is now delivering groceries, some of which aren't food, several celebrities try to eat inedible things, including Jennifer Coolidge chewing on eyeliner, Gwyneth Paltrow taking a bite of one of her vagina candles, and Trevor Noah trying to eat a lightbulb.
  • FTX Trading - Larry David is seen as dismissing things throughout history, such as the invention of the toilet, the light bulb, the Declaration of Independence from England, and trying to put a man on the moon. When a man tells him FTX is a safe, easy way to get into crypto, David says, "I don't think so. And I'm never wrong about this stuff."
  • Lays - Paul Rudd and Seth Rogan reminisce while eating Lays chips at a wedding about "good times" from the past, which are all bad things like a near plane crash, being caught in the middle of a gang turf war, being kidnapped and buying a haunted house with a creepy female ghost. In the end, it turns out Rogan is marrying ghost woman.
  • Pringles - A man gets his hand stuck in Pringles container, and never gets it off. It stays on throughout his life as he dates, gets married, has kids, grows old, and finally dies, and is still on at his funeral, during which his grandson gets his hand stuck in another Pringles container.
📺BESTS & WORSTS

'USA Today' Ad Meter: USA Today held its annual Ad Meter review of the Super Bowl commercials in which people register online and vote on the ads. The results, including the most popular and least popular ads, will be available this morning at https://admeter.usatoday.com/.

Here is what some news outlets thought were the best and worst ads:
Yahoo! Sports - Grading ads: https://yhoo.it/3HQroua
Fast Company - 5 best, one worst: https://bit.ly/3HJJQEC
Ad Age - Best and worst: https://bit.ly/3HQqrSq
Washington Post - Five best: https://wapo.st/3gQ1b2J
The Athletic - Best and worst: https://bit.ly/3uVyTfs



➤UKRAINE ON EDGE: National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN yesterday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could begin "any day now." An estimated 100,000 Russian troops have been sent to the border of Ukraine. Russian authorities deny an invasion is planned and accuse Western nations of "hysteria." In a phone call on Sunday, President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the U.S. and its allies will respond "swiftly and decisively" to any invasion.

➤CANADIAN POLICE MOVE TO END BLOCKADE: Canadian authorities are moving to end the blockade that protesters created at a critical border bridge from Windsor, Ontario to Detroit. Yesterday, a number of demonstrators were arrested and a couple of pickup trucks were towed away to clear the blockade. Canadian authorities suggested that they have negotiated a deal with the protesters, according to The New York Times. The protests are led by truckers who are opposed to vaccine mandates. The Ambassador Bridge is a key passageway from Canada to the U.S. for Detroit automakers.

➤COVID CASES ARE PLUMMETING: We may be seeing the beginning of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. New Covid cases in the U.S. have dropped by 61 percent over the past two weeks, to 240,000 new cases per day. Daily deaths now average about 2,500. The total number of U.S. deaths due to COVID passed 900,000 early this month, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

🚘USED CAR PRICES OUT OF CONTROL: A shortage of brand-new cars has caused a surge in the prices of used cars. In January, prices for used cars jumped by 45 percent over prices the year before, according to Cars.com. The average price of a used car was $26,000. Shortages of the imported semiconductors and microchips used in new cars has slowed their production ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

🎿BEIJING WINTER OLYMPICS:
  • U.S. Hockey Team Goes to Quarterfinals: The U.S. men's hockey team defeated Germany last night 3-2, gaining them a place in Wednesday's quarterfinals. The American team defeated a chief rival, Canada's team, by a score of 4-2 on Saturday. They defeated China's team as well, making them 3-0 going into the quarterfinals.
  • Russian Star Skater Cleared to Compete: Kamila Valieva has been cleared to compete in the women's figure skating competition. An arbitration court hours ago cleared the Russian star after reviewing her drug test, which showed traces of a banned substance. The court said in part that Valieva, who is only 15, was subject to different rules from adult athletes. Valieva is a firm favorite for the gold in the women's figure skating events, which begin tomorrow.
  • American Wins Gold in Speedskating: American speedskater Erin Jackson won the gold medal in the women's 500-meter race yesterday. She is the first Black woman to win an individual medal in speedskating.
  • American Wins First Gold for Monobob: American Kaillie Humphries took the gold medal in the first-ever monobob event at the Olympics. Another American, Elana Meyers Taylor, took the silver. Canada's Christine de Bruin got the bronze medal. German athletes collected the gold medals in all six of the earlier sliding competitions.
  • French Duo Wins Gold in Ice Dance: The French duo of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron took the gold in the ice dancing competition in Beijing. The veteran American duo of Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won the bronze medal in the competition, which they said would be their last.
  • Jacobellis Gets Second Gold Medal: Lindsey Jacobellis won her second gold medal in Beijing with teammate Nick Baumgartner in the first Olympics competition for mixed-gender team snowboardcross. They are the elders of the Olympics. Jacobellus is 36 and Baumgartner is 40.
MEDAL COUNT: (As of 4:00 a.m. ET) - Norway is in first place with 21 medals, followed by the Russian Olympic Committee with 18, and the U.S. and Canada with 15 each. In the gold medal count, Norway is first with nine, Germany has eight, and the U.S. is third with seven. The U.S. has 15 medals overall, seven gold, six silver and two bronze. ESPN'S MEDAL TRACKER



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