Aaron Donald was utterly dominant in the second half of the Super Bowl against the Cincinnati Bengals, finishing with four tackles, two tackles for loss and two sacks. The All-Pro interior defender also made the game-winning play for the Los Angeles Rams on Cincinnati’s final drive, swinging Joe Burrow to the ground on fourth down to force an incomplete pass.
While Donald deserves all of the recognition he’s receiving for his performance in the Super Bowl, A’Shawn Robinson deserves some praise as well.
Robinson, who left the Detroit Lions to sign with the Rams two years ago, concluded Sunday night’s thrilling victory with six tackles (third-most on the team), one tackle for loss, a quarterback hit and one sack.
It was only his third sack and third tackle for a loss this season, but they couldn’t have come at a better time.
And there were plays that didn’t show up in the box score for Robinson as he was vital in Los Angeles’ ability to limit Cincinnati’s running game to 79 total rushing yards on 18 attempts.
BOBC as A’Shawn Robinson beats Jonah Williams for the TFL pic.twitter.com/MSHoXxb25p
— Bama NFL (@TheBamaNFL) February 14, 2022
During the Super Bowl, it became apparent that the Bengals began taking notice of when Robinson was in the game or on the sideline. When he was in the game, Cincinnati was unable to have much success on the ground.
But when he was taking a breather, the Bengals knew they could try to take advantage of the Rams’ run defense. In the end, it didn’t matter as Los Angeles was able to win its first Super Bowl since the 1999 season.
Throughout the postseason, the Rams were able to limit their opponents to a mere 3.3 yards per attempt, which was tied for the second-fewest among the playoff teams. A large reason (figuratively and literally) Los Angeles had success in containing the run was Robinson’s run-stuffing ability from the interior.
Amid all of the special performances we witnessed from Donald, Cooper Kupp, and Matthew Stafford, Robinson”s efforts in the biggest game of the year shouldn’t go unnoticed.
