A Few Odds and Ends Courtesy of Super Bowl LVI

It proved to be quite the 2021 NFL postseason when it was all said and done.

On Super Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams’ 23-20 defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. It capped off a 13-game tournament that was lowlighted by blowouts in the wild card round and uplifted by nail-biters the rest of the way. Only two of the six games in the first round were decided by seven points or less. Meanwhile, the other four contests saw wins by at least 16 points. The Buffalo Bills (47-17), Kansas City Chiefs (42-21) and Rams (34-11) defeated the Patriots, Steelers and Cardinals, respectively, by 21-plus points.

Meanwhile, six of the last seven games in the playoffs were all decided by three points. The only exception was the Chiefs’ 42-36 overtime win over the Bills in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.

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Breaking Super Bowl Form

Back to the Super Bowl. For only the sixth time in the series’ 56-year history, a team that lost the turnover battle also fell short on the scoreboard. Rams’ quarterback Matthew Stafford threw three touchdown passes but was also picked off twice. Meanwhile, the Bengals did not give up the football in the heartbreaking loss.

In fact, it’s only the third time in 56 contests that the losing team played turnover-free football. The difference here are Super Bowl XXV (New York Giants over the Buffalo Bills) and Super Bowl XXXIV (the then-St. Louis Rams over the Tennessee Titans). In each instance, neither club turned over the ball in those respective games.

All told, the Rams’ come-from-behind win marked only the eighth time that a Super Bowl had been decided by three points or less. Speaking of eight, Rams’ wide receiver Cooper Kupp became just the eighth wide receiver named Super Bowl MVP. Ironically, he caught eight passes for 92 yards and two scores. But his seven-yard run on fourth-and-one on Los Angeles’ game-winning drive may have been the biggest play of the game.

So Kupp became the 48th different player to win Super Bowl MVP honors (Randy White and Harvey Martin of the Dallas Cowboys were co-MVPs of Super Bowl XII). Sean McVay became the youngest head coach to win a Lombardi Trophy (and the 35 different sideline leader). And the NFL/NFC owns a 29-27 lead over the AFL/AFC on Super Sunday.