THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

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Super Bowl LVI (56) Recap

The 2021 National Football League season is in the history books. The postseason featured some of the best playoff games in NFL history. Nine teams changed head coaches as the carousel spun wild. The Pro Bowl featured the usual tomfoolery. Now it was time for the king of all sports to crown its champion. Super Bowl LVI (56) concluded one of the best professional football seasons ever. 

Super Bowl LVI took place at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles. The AFC’s Cincinnati Bengals took on the NFC’s Los Angeles Rams   

The Bengals had never won the Super Bowl. They reached the Super Bowl in 1981 and 1988. Both times they were defeated by the San Francisco 49ers. They won a playoff game in 1990 and then went 31 years until winning their next playoff game. The Rams have won the Super Bowl, but the Los Angeles Rams never have.

The Bengals won the AFC North and won three playoff games in cardiac fashion. The AFC Title Game was a comeback for the ages. The Chiefs led 21-3, but the Bengals made a valiant comeback and forced overtime. One week earlier the Chiefs won the overtime coin toss and never gave the ball up. They won the coin toss again but this time Mahomes was intercepted. McPherson came through again for the 27-24 victory to send the Bengals to the Super Bowl. The 49ers had swept the Rams during the regular season and led 17-7 in the fourth quarter of the NFC Title Game before the Rams defense took over. Aaron Donald battered Jimmy Garoppolo into an interception that preserved the 20-17 Rams victory. 

The fortunes of the long-suffering Bengals changed at the 2020 NFL Draft. With the top overall pick, the Bengals selected quarterback Joe Burrow out of Louisiana State University. Burrow had just won a national championship with LSU. He was seeking to become the first ever top overall Draft pick to win a Super Bowl in his second season. In the 2021 offseason, Rams coach Sean McVay made a blockbuster trade with the Detroit Lions. The Lions got Jared Goff and the Rams got quarterback Matthew Stafford. Stafford was considered the last piece of the puzzle as the Rams became a trendy pre-season Super Bowl favorite.

Since the halftime show, commercials and cheerleaders have nothing to do with football, they will be completely ignored. They happened. Now back to the football game itself. The Rams got the ball first, picked up one first down, and then a sack of Stafford ended the drive. The Bengals began with excellent field position and faced 2nd and 2 from midfield. Joe Mixon only gained one yard and Perine then got stopped. Zac Taylor gambled on 4th and 1 from just past midfield. Burrow had his pass knocked away incomplete. The Rams soon faced 3rd and 4 from the Cincinnati 44. Stafford went to Cooper Kupp for 20. Stafford then threw a perfect fade pass to O’Dell Beckham, who made a great catch in the end zone for a 17 yard touchdown and a 7-0 Rams lead. 

Late in the first quarter the Bengals took over at their own 30. Mixon ran for a 13 yard gain. Burrow then went bombs away to JaMarr Chase, who made a leaping one-handed grab for a 46 yard gain. On 3rd and 10 from the Rams 11, Burrow fired to the end zone to a well covered Tee Higgins. The bay ricocheted off of Higgins’s chest and was then nearly intercepted before falling incomplete. The defense was solid but Higgins still had a chance for the touchdown. Instead Evan McPherson hit a 29 yard field goal to get the Bengals within 7-3. 

The Rams soon faced 3rd and 11 from their own 24 to start the second quarter. Stafford connected again with Beckham for a 35 yard gain. Stafford then went to Darrell Henderson for 25 more. Stafford then executed a perfect play action, rolled to his right, and fired in the corner of the end zone for an 11 yard touchdown. The holder fumbled the snap on the extra point, and an attempt at a throw failed as the Rams led 13-3. 

After a touchback, Burrowhit Boyd for 11 and Chase for 10. Mixon ran for 14 and 4. On 3rd and 6 from the Rams 33, Burrow hit Higgins for 14. On 3rd and 2 from the Rams 11, Chase took a sideways swing pass and snuck ahead for 4 yards. Zac Taylor then went to the bag of tricks. Burrow lateraled to Mixon, who threw the halfback option pass to Huggins for the touchdown. The 12 play, 75 yard, 7 minute drive got the Bengals within 13-10.

After a touchback, Cam Akers ran for 6 and Stafford hit Van Jefferson for 13. With the Rams facing 2nd and 9 from their own 45, Stafford threw incomplete to Beckham, who went down in pain without being touched. On 3rd and 9, Stafford hit Hopkins for 16. On 3rd and 14 from the Cincinnati 43, Stafford went bombs away to the end zone and was intercepted for a touchback. The Rams got it back and faced 3rd and 1 from midfield with 18 seconds left. Stafford threw deep incomplete. Both quarterbacks went 12 of 18 in the first half. The second half started with a bang.

After a touchback to start the third quarter, Burrow went bombs away to Higgins for a 75 yard touchdown. Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey fell down and replay showed that Higgins got away with an offensive facemask. An angry Ramsey protested to on avail as the Bengals had their first lead of the game 17-13 only 12 seconds into the third quarter. The Rams took over at their own 17 and immediately melted. Stafford fired over the middle to Skowronek. The ball bounced right off of Skowronek’s hands and was intercepted by Awuzie. The Bengals took over at the Rams 31. On 4th and 1 from the Rams 22, Zac Taylor again decided to go for it rather than kick the easy field goal. Burrow took the quarterback draw up the middle for 4 yards. On 3rd and 3 from the Rams 11, Stafford was sacked. McPherson hit again from 38 as the Bengals led 20-13.

The Rams soon faced 3rd and 8 from their own 27. Stafford hit Henderson for 15, Kupp for 13 and Hopkins for 16. On 3rd and 5 from the Cincinnati 23, Sea McVay went to the bag of tricks and tried the Philly special. A double lateral led Kupp try to throw to a wide open Stafford. The ball was high overthrown incomplete. Matt Gay hit the 41 yard field goal to get the Rams within 20-16. Consecutive sacks on Burrow for a total of 6 sacks in the first three quarters gave the Rams the ball back just shy of midfield to start the fourth quarter. Yet on 3rd and 7, Stafford threw deep incomplete as the Rams again squandered excellent field position. 

The Bengals faced 3rd and 9 from their own 34. Burrow was sacked for the 7th time and was writhing in pain on the ground and clutching his leg. An offensive personal foul on the play had the Bengals punting on 4th and 29. A few plays earlier Stafford went off limping, and a close Super Bowl in the fourth quarter could hinge on if either quarterback could not finish. The Rams took over at their own 35. On 3rd and 4, Stafford had an open receiver in the flat but threw high and incomplete. The Bengals took over at their own 15. The Rams had a good drive going but on 3rd and 9 from their own 40, a simple pass was dropped. The Rams took over at their own 21 with 6:13 left in regulation. 

On 2nd and 1 from their own 30, Stafford threw incomplete. On 3rd and 1, a run got stopped cold. With 5 minutes still to play, the obvious decision was to punt and trust the defense. Instead Sean McVay grabbed his balls of steel and risked the entire game. On 4th and 1 from his own 30 with the running game getting stopped all game, McVay called a lateral run. Kupp gained 7 yards. On 3rd and 2 from their own 45, Stafford hit Hopkins for 6. Stafford then hit Kupp over the middle for 22 and again for 8 more. Out of the shotgun, Akers took a handoff for 8 more. With 1:55 to play in the Super Bowl, the Rams had 1st and goal at the 8. Stafford had a wide open receiver but overthrew him high out of the back of the end zone incomplete. Another throw low into the dirt set up 3rd and goal. 

Stafford’s pass was broken up incomplete, but a game with very few penalties saw defensive holding. On 1st and goal at the 4, Stafford rolled out and fired to Kupp between 2 defenders. Kupp caught the ball for the touchdown and then got blasted as more flags came down. There was a defensive personal foul, but there was also offensive holding. Offsetting penalties meant a do-over as the touchdown came off the board. Then came another incompletion but another defensive pass interference call in the end zone meant 1st and goal at the one. Stafford got stopped on the quarterback sneak as the Bengals took their first timeout on defense. On 2nd and goal from the one with everyone expecting run, Stafford to Kupp in the end zone near the sideline. The back shoulder throw was perfect, and this time  the touchdown stood. The 15 play, 79, nearly 5 minute drive gave the Rams the 23-20 lead with 1:25 left. 

After a touchback, Burrow had his chance to be the hero with 2 timeouts. Burrow quickly went to Chase for 17 and Boyd for 9. On 2nd and 1 just past midfield, Burrow threw deep incomplete. On 3rd and 1 Perine got stopped cold by Aaron Donald. The Bengals took their second timeout with 43 seconds left. Everything came down to 4th and 1. Rather than go smashmouth, Burrow was in the shotgun, Donald came in and was about to give the Rams a Super record 8 sacks. Even as Burrow was being spun around, he somehow was strong enough to shot-put a desperation pass that fell incomplete. The Rams defense had done it again. 

Sean McVay, Aaron Donald and Matthew Stafford finally had a Super Bowl ring. Andrew Whitworth, who spent 11 seasons with the Bengals, finally won his first Super Bowl in his 15th season. Donald was the Super Bowl MVP. McVay became the youngest coach to ever win the Super Bowl. O’Dell Beckham and Tyler Higbee were both injured in the game, but they were Super Bowl champions as well. Von Miller Although Donald had a strong case for MVP, it went to Kupp, who caught 2 touchdown passes. The Rams as an organization won their second Super Bowl, but their 1999 win was in St. Louis. This was the first Super Bowl win for the Los Angeles Rams. The Bengals for the third time lost the Super Bowl by 5 points or less, and are still chasing their first Super Bowl win. The 2021 NFL season is now in the history books. 23-20 Rams

Three months until the 2022 NFL Draft. 

eric

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NFL 2021-2022 Pro Bowl Recap

The NFL 2021 regular season has come and gone. The AFC and NFC Title Games are in the history books. The Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams will play at the Super Bowl in Los Angeles. Yet there is still football’s equivalent of the all-star game. From the Las Vegas Death Star, home of the Raiders, the NFL gave us the Pro Bowl. After decades in Honolulu, Hawaii and several years in Miami, Florida, now it was Las Vegas. Gone was the beautifully warm weather. Las Vegas is not Fargo, North Dakota, but it in winter it is not that warm either. Mike Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans staff led the AFC while the NFC was coached by Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers staff. 

The rules for this game were meant to severely limit the chance of injuries. No kickoffs. All drives start at the 25 yard line. Tight end and running back on every play. No nickel or dime packages and no blitzing. Most importantly, there was no tackling. Yes, tackle football was now played without tackling. This was the equivalent of two-hand touch. There was mild blocking, but nothing too intense. After seeing the Pro Bowl last year wiped out by Covid, at least this was something. Barely. Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals was intercepted by Darrius Leonard of the Indianapolis Colts, who returned it 45 yards for a defensive touchdown and a 7-0 AFC lead.

Instead of an onside kick, the team that scored was given one chance to keep the ball. They would start with a 4th and 15 from their own 25. The AFC went with that option but came up one yard short, giving the NFC the ball at the AFC 39. Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings took over as NFC quarterback for Murray and threw a 20 yard touchdown pass to Kyle Juszczyk of the San Francisco 49ers for a 7-7 game. The NFC tried the 4th and 15 option. Cousins went deep and was intercepted. The return had the AFC setting up at the NFC 15 yard line. Justin Herbert of the Chargers came in as AFC quarterback and needed only one play to throw a touchdown pass to Mark Andrews of the Baltimore Ravens for a 14-7 AFC Lead.

The AFC went with the 4th and 15 option and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs came in for the AFC. Mahomes threw deep incomplete to give the NFC another short field. Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks came in as NFC quarterback. On 4th and goal at the 6, going for it is the way things are done in the Pro Bowl. Wilson had Juszczyk in the end zone, but it bounced off of his hands and was intercepted by JC Jackson of the New England Patriots. 10 minutes into the game, all 3 NFC quarterbacks had thrown an interception. The AFC got it back at went for it on 4th and 12. Mahomes went deep and was intercepted by Antoine winfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who faked a lateral and took it himself 64 yards for a defensive touchdown. The NFC went for the 2 point conversion but failed as the NFC Trailed 14-13 at the end of the first quarter. 

Cousins came in for the 4th and 15 try. He had the ball stripped as he was throwing by TJ Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns plucked the ball out of the air and returned it for the defensive touchdown. Mac Jones of the Patriots hit Diontae Johnson of the Steelers for the 2 point conversion to make it 22-13 AFC. Jones went for the 4th and 15 and was intercepted by Trevon Diggs of the Dallas Cowboys. With the NFC facing 4th and 6 from the AFC 19, Murray rolled out under heavy pressure by Pro Bowl standards and threw a prayer to the end zone that was somehow caught by Mike Evans of the Buccaneers for the touchdown. Murray hit CeeDee Lamb of the Cowboys to get the NFC within 22-21. 

Herbert threw a 7 yard touchdown to Andrews to make it 28-21 AFC at the half. Penalties and punts are virtually non-existent in this game, but the referees did have to call one false start at the end of the half. No field goals or punts were attempted in the first half. 

After a pinball first half, the pace slowed in the second half as the teams began to take the game more seriously. This usually happens in the Pro Bowl as the game goes on. A 14 play, 95 yard drive saw Jones throw a 6 yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow of the Las Vegas Raiders for a 34-21 AFC lead midway through the third quarter. The drive took 7 1/2 minutes. After a combined 7 failed 4th and 15 attempts, this time the AFC just let the NFC have the ball from their own 25. The winning team gets twice as much money as the losing team, so as the game reaches the fourth quarter and the money becomes real, the intensity level ratchets up. Even without tackling, players start getting some mild hits in up to a certain point. Yet on 4th and 7 from their own 28, the NFC still was not willing to punt. So another incompletion meant another short field for the AFC. Diggs took a double lateral 4 yards for a touchdown and a 41-21 AFC lead after three quarters. 

With 10 1/2 minutes left in the game, Murray hit Kyle Pitts of the Atlanta Falcons for a 5 yard touchdown to get the NFC within 41-28. The NFC got the ball back and Murray threw a 6 yard touchdown pass to Dalvin Cook of the Minnesota Vikings. With 2 1/2 minutes left in the game, the NFC was within 6 points. On 4th and 2, Jones hit Najee Harris of the Steelers for a first down to lock up the win. Jones took 3 knees as the AFC won the Pro Bowl for the 5th consecutive year.  Herbert was the offensive MVP and Maxx Crosby of the Raiders was the defensive MVP.  41-35 AFC

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