Cooper Kupp capped a dominant season with two Super Bowl LVI touchdowns to guide the short-handed Los Angeles Rams past the Cincinnati Bengals in LA.
The Rams were heavily reliant on Kupp at their SoFi Stadium home after Odell Beckham Jr. was ruled out with a first-half knee injury, joining tight end Tyler Higbee on the sideline.
But the triple crown wide receiver had just enough to inspire a 23-20 win and deny the Bengals their first championship – with a little help from Aaron Donald.
Before Beckham went down, the Rams' superstar receiving talent had a telling impact, as their second drive ended with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to the former Cleveland Brown.
The Bengals could only come up with a field goal in response – Evan McPherson's record-breaking 13th consecutive successful conversion in a single postseason – and Stafford soon found Kupp for a fifth TD in four playoff games.
But the remainder of the first half did not play out nearly so smoothly for the Rams, who were pegged back by a career-first Joe Mixon pass – to Tee Higgins for a TD – and then lost Beckham to injury before Jessie Bates III picked off a deep Stafford pass in the endzone.
The Rams still took a three-point lead into halftime, yet that was gone within 12 seconds of the third quarter when an apparent foul by Higgins on Jalen Ramsey was not spotted, allowing the receiver to run in a 75-yard score from Joe Burrow's pass.
Burrow was quickly back on the field, too, as a Stafford throw bounced off Ben Skowronek – promoted in place of Beckham – and into the arms of Chidobe Awuzie for a second interception. Aaron Donald's second sack limited the Bengals to a McPherson field goal.
The Rams were also forced to settle for a field goal after Kupp overthrew a pass to Stafford as they ran the Philly Special, although some heavy punishment dished out to Burrow limited the Bengals' effectiveness on offense, giving Stafford one last drive with a four-point deficit.
After numerous penalties in the red zone, Stafford finally picked out Kupp for another TD, setting the stage for Donald to stall Burrow's reply and spark home celebrations.
Burrow on brand with big plays and sacks
Burrow's 51 sacks in the regular season set a record for any QB to start that year's Super Bowl, but he was largely kept clean in the first half – albeit he did not throw a TD either.
The second half was much more like what we have come to expect from Burrow and the Bengals' offensive line, however.
The NFL leader in passing plays of 50 yards or more (12 in 2021) added another with his TD pass to Higgins, although the controversy around that play – Higgins' hand grasped at Ramsey's facemask – appeared to contribute to a determined Rams response on defense.
Donald soon had his first sack and Burrow took seven in all, tying Roger Staubach's Super Bowl X record.
Kupp comes up trumps as only option
The reason for backing the Rams pre-game over the Bengals was their wealth of options, as evidenced by Beckham's early TD after a drive in which Kupp carried the ball into Cincinnati territory.
But when Beckham was ruled out, with Higbee and Robert Woods (two of five remaining Rams from their Super Bowl LIII defeat) already sidelined, Stafford turned his focus to Kupp alone.
This year's premier wideout was the target of a game-high 10 pass attempts and reeled in eight of them – another high – for 92 yards and those two decisive TDs.
Cowboys quarterback Prescott to have season-ending surgery
Dak Prescott won't play again for the Dallas Cowboys this season.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that Prescott will undergo surgery on Wednesday to repair his torn hamstring and is out for the remainder of the season.
"His prognosis is wonderful," Jones said Tuesday on his weekly radio appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. "It just means we're not going to have him for the rest of the year."
Prescott sustained the injury in the Cowboys' 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on November 3, and he sat out this past Sunday's 34-6 home drubbing by the Philadelphia Eagles - Dallas' fourth consecutive defeat.
There was some hope that he wouldn't need surgery and return this season, but he has decided to have the procedure to repair a partial avulsion of the hamstring tendon.
The recovery time for his surgery is at least three months, and the Super Bowl is just under three months away.
With a 3-6 record, Dallas' chances of making the Super Bowl are slim, and it looks like the franchise will miss the play-offs for the first time since 2020 after going 12-5 each of the past three seasons.
The Cowboys' offence also looked completely inept in its first game without Prescott.
Cooper Rush started against the Eagles, but threw for just 45 yards - the fewest by a Cowboys starting quarterback in a game since Matt Cassel had 37 in a 19-16 loss to the New York Jets in 2015.
Trey Lance ended up replacing Rush, and passed for 21 yards, giving Dallas 66 total passing yards - the fewest by the team in a game since having 34 in a 10-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2001.
Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener after finishing as runner-up in NFL MVP voting in 2023, was off to a slow start to the 2024 season with 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions through eight games.
NFL: Dolphins end skid, halt Rams' win streak
Tyreek Hill scored his first touchdown since the season opener and the Miami Dolphins put forth a stout defensive effort to get back in the win column with Monday's 23-15 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
Miami (3-6) held the Rams to five Joshua Karty field goals and sacked Matthew Stafford four times to end a three-game losing streak and halt a run of six losses in seven outings. The win was also the first in three starts for Tua Tagovailoa since the star quarterback returned from a concussion that sidelined him four games.
Tagovailoa completed 20 of 28 passes for 207 yards with one interception and had a 1-yard touchdown strike to Hill that gave the Dolphins a 17-6 lead in the third quarter. Hill, who tied for the NFL lead with 13 touchdown catches last season, ended a stretch of seven consecutive games without reaching the end zone.
The Dolphins also got an 18-yard touchdown run from rookie receiver Malik Washington in the first quarter and three field goals from Jason Sanders to end a three-game winning streak for Los Angeles (4-5).
Stafford threw for 293 yards on 32-of-46 passing, but was intercepted once while directing an offence that settled for Karty field goals on three trips inside the red zone.
The Rams also struggled on third downs, converting just three of 12 opportunities while Miami went 6 of 13 in such situations.
Puka Nacua had nine catches for 98 yards for Los Angeles, which dropped to 1 1/2 games back of the first-place Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West. Team-mate Cooper Kupp finished with seven receptions totalling 80 yards.
'Any way you win is good', says Mahomes after Chiefs drama
Patrick Mahomes says "any way you win is good" in the NFL after the Kansas City Chiefs blocked a last-minute field goal to beat the Denver Broncos.
The Chiefs held out for a 16-14 win on Sunday, with their defense proving the difference as Denver's only points were all scored in the second quarter.
Leo Chenal then pulled off the big play in the final seconds to secure the win, blocking Will Lutz's 35-yard field-goal attempt in the final seconds.
Kansas City trailed 14-3 late in the second half before Travis Kelce's touchdown and Harrison Butker's two field goals turned the game in their favour.
And even though the Chiefs' offense was not at its best, Mahomes, who completed 28 of 42 passes for 266 yards, says they are still happy with the result.
"Yeah, they all feel like wins," the quarterback told reporters. "I've learned that any way you win is good in this league.
"Obviously, there's stuff to learn from. I thought we did good things in good spots. I missed – I mean, if I made the touchdown throw to Trav [Kelce] and I made the touchdown throw to [Xavier] Worthy, we're probably in a different situation.
"I think more than anything [during the last play], I was just sick that last drive because I missed that touchdown throw that would've given us the chance to make it where they [the Broncos] had to score a touchdown.
"I thought our defense stepped up in that second half and did a great job. I was just happy. I was happy that we ended with that block and Leo [Chenal] got through there. It was just joy after that."
The two-time reigning Super Bowl champions are aiming for an unprecedented 'three-peat' and are on a 15-game winning streak, including the playoffs, dating back to Week 17 of last season.
Kansas City (9-0) are the only team in the NFL with a perfect record so far, and though Mahomes was delighted to keep that run going, he acknowledged it would be tough to maintain it.
"You live for these moments [at the end of the game]," he added. "When you grow up playing football, you live for the walk-off, whatever it is.
"It's special when you build [with] these guys for so long, and you've built this chemistry with them and guys get to make that play.
"It's week-to-week in this league. We know it’s going to be a great challenge this next week – Buffalo's playing great football.
"We know they'll be fiery, and they're going to be trying to beat us, so we're going to [have to] play better and execute at a higher level in order to win."
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