Stan Kroenke’s gamble paid off. It was a close-run thing but his Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 last night in SoFi Stadium to win the Super Bowl in a game that was in the balance right to the end.
It was a double triumph for Kroenke, who owns Arsenal as well as the Rams. The 74-year-old accepted the Vince Lombardi trophy in the arena he financed. “As far as building this stadium, I think it turned out alright,” Kroenke said, coming across like a kindly grandfather instead of a rapacious real-estate developer. The gentrification of Inglewood, the site of the SoFi, means Kroenke’s $5 billion investment will pay huge dividends.
He thanked the “great fans of Los Angeles,” adding that it was “their first Super Bowl trophy. In Rams house.” He stretched the vowels of the final word out in an unconvincing attempt to rouse the crowd. It was a curiously passionless cameo from the winning owner. If it was a night when a lifetime’s ambition was fulfilled, he took it very calmly. Sport and business are inseparably entwined for Kroenke but he values economic success over glory.
The atmosphere in the SoFi was strange. The biggest sporting events have become increasingly corporate in the past decade but the Super Bowl has long put finances before fanaticism. Two weeks ago, when the Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers at their home, the noise from the stands was so loud that the quarterbacks of both sides had to go to the silent count before snapping the ball because their team-mates could not hear their playcalling. There were no such problems for Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow last night. This was Kroenke’s sort of crowd. He favours rich over loud.
For those who paid big money to be present, the game was compelling. Stafford led the Rams to a 13-3 lead with touchdowns from Odel Beckham and Cooper Kupp, his star receivers, and Los Angeles were in a position to kill off the game. The Bengals hung in, though, and stopped the Rams running the ball. Beckham injured his knee before half time and Cincinnati went into the break just three points adrift at 13-10 after a brilliantly conceived touchdown where Burrows handed off to Joe Mixon and the running back threw a six-yard pass to Tee Higgins in the end zone.
LA bet their immediate future on success this season. They traded away a clutch of draft picks to bring Stafford from the Detroit Lions and spent even more future selections on Von Miller to add venom to their defence. There have been rumours that their pass rushing talisman Aaron Donald, the most dominant defensive player in the NFL, is considering retirement. This was a game the Rams could not afford to lose. They had to win now. Defeat was unthinkable. They will not be able to rebuild in the next two drafts and their spending splurge will produce salary cap problems going into next season.
At the beginning of the second half, it all seemed to go wrong. Burrow connected with Higgins, who found space by illegally pulling on the facemask of Jalen Ramsey, the Rams’ best cover man. The 75-yard touchdown put the Bengals up 17-10. Stafford then appeared to throw the game away with his second interception. Cincinnati were ten points ahead but the defences began to take control and going into the fourth quarter the gap was closed to 20-16.
The critical moment had arrived for the Rams superstars. Produce now or possibly never.
Stafford stepped up on a 15-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown pass to Kupp that gave LA a 23-20 lead with just 85 seconds left. Kupp, the offensive player of the year, had been largely quiet up until that point. On this last drive he ran for one first down and caught the ball four times.
Donald, who had been pressuring Burrow with increasing frequency, ended the game with a superb tackle that denied the Bengals a first down and then hurried the Cincinnati quarterback into an incompletion on fourth down. Class – and cash – prevailed.
So Kroenke got his (almost) instant gratification. The Rams built a team to win this year, led by a 34-year-old quarterback. Next season can take care of itself.
The Bengals appear to be in a better situation going forward. Burrow is just 25, they have a young group of players and plenty of salary-cap space. This should be the launch pad for an era of success in Ohio.
Except Burrow was sacked 51 times in the regular season and 12 times in the playoffs. Last night he equalled a Super Bowl record by enduring a further seven takedowns. Quarterbacks who take so much punishment tend to have short careers. Cincinnati need to rebuild the offensive line to protect him but Burrow also has to adapt his game to avoid taking too many hits.
Los Angeles will celebrate the victory but it is a town that has never been in thrall to the NFL. The Rams’ previous occupancy in the area amounted to 48 fairly loveless years and ended in rancour. The Raiders won the Super Bowl as an LA team but never settled and bolted back to Oakland 12 years later.
Kroenke built a stadium and imported his franchise. He brought America’s showpiece game to his ‘house’ and created a team that ensured that once the Lombardi Trophy arrived at SoFi, it was going to reside there for at least a year.
But Angelenos have a notoriously short attention span outside their established favourites – the Dodgers, the Lakers, the Kings. The next NFL team they take to their hearts will be the first.
Will LA love the Rams a second time around? Even after this Super Bowl victory, the jury is still out. Kroenke’s ‘house’ is built on dubious foundations on and off the field.
