On the biggest drive of his life, Matthew Stafford didn’t play it safe. He didn’t stray from what has made him great throughout his career, remaining aggressive as the Rams marched down the field for a game-winning touchdown to beat the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.
Stafford was even brave enough to throw a no-look pass in a critical moment on second-and-7 from the Bengals’ 46-yard line with only 3:06 left in the game. He threw a dart to Cooper Kupp over the middle for a 22-yard gain and a first down, putting the Rams on the fringe of the red zone.
He baited Vonn Bell by looking to his right, causing the safety to come flying down in anticipation of a throw going to Brycen Hopkins. But Stafford snuck the throw behind Bell to Kupp for a huge play, helping set up the game-winning touchdown.
The end zone angle of the play shows how incredible of a throw it was by Stafford.
The throw of the #superbowl. Matt Stafford with a no look pass to Cooper Cupp. A showtime throw when he needed it to win a SB. Amazing pass. #nolook pic.twitter.com/eTT2k0lEdL
— KaleyCo (@J_Kaley) February 14, 2022
Kupp said after the game that Stafford threw “the best no-looker of his life” on that play, not realizing until the last second that Stafford was throwing it to him over the middle.
So if he briefly fooled Kupp, you can imagine how confused Bell was when he saw the ball whiz by him for a completion.