Los Angeles – The Los Angeles Rams have followed the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl. The favored Rams defeated the San Francisco 49ers 20:17 in an exciting and competitive NFC Championship Game.
The sticking point was an interception by 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo with 37 seconds remaining on the clock. The signal caller had 232 yards and two touchdowns.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 337 yards and two touchdowns on an interception. Rams receiver Cooper Kupp once again played a very strong game, bringing it to 142 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Los Angeles Rams will play the Super Bowl on February 13 in their own SoFi Stadium (live on ProSieben and ran.de).
49erst at Rams: The defenses initially dominate
The game needed a certain amount of time to start, with both teams stalking each other and the defenses dominating. Only in the middle of the second quarter did the first points appear on the scoreboard. After a strong drive from the Rams, Stafford fitted 16 yards exactly into the end zone to his favorite goal, Cooper Kupp.
However, the 49ers quickly countered, Deebo Samuel sprinted into the end zone after a short pass from Garoppolo. Since both kickers converted the extra points, the score was 7:7. A little later, Matt Gay tried to put the Rams back in the lead with a field goal, but the kicker missed from 54 yards.
On the other hand, Robbie Gould did better, shooting the 49ers from 38 yards to give them a 10-7 half-time lead. The third quarter was then determined by the two aggressive defenses for a long time.
Garoppolo throws an interception just before the end
Two minutes before the end of the third quarter, however, 49ers tight end George Kittle snagged a 16-yard pass from Garoppolo. The extra point went through the bars as well, with the Californian franchise taking a 17-7 lead.
A little later it was star receiver Kupp again, who shortened eleven yards to 14:17 after a Stafford pass. Kicker Gaye then leveled the game in the last quarter with a field goal from 40 yards.
Bitter: 49ers-Safety Jaquiski Tartt could have caught a Stafford pass in the last quarter, but dropped the easy interception and missed a chance to change the game.
106 seconds before the end of the game it was again Kicker Gay who put the score to 20:17 for the Rams. The 49ers had one drive left, but Garoppolo made the crucial interception.
Christian Stüwe
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