Bengals, Rams Advance to Super Bowl

NFL Conference Championship – Each Sunday, the FO staff sends around emails about the games that each of us are watching. We share information about the games that the rest of the group might not be watching, ask questions, and keep everyone else informed about which games they might want to tune into (if they can).

On Monday, we compile a digest of those emails and produce this feature. By its nature, it can be disjointed and dissimilar to the other articles on the site.

While these emails are generally written with Audibles in mind, they do not represent a standard review of all the games each week. That means we aren’t going to cover every game, or every important play. We watch the games that we, as fans, are interested in watching, so your favorite team’s game might not be covered to your fullest desires or even at all. (If you are a Seahawks or Patriots fan, you are probably in luck; if you are a Lions fan, not so much.) We have no intention of adding new authors solely to cover every game on a given Sunday, nor will we watch a different game from the ones that we’re personally interested in watching just to ensure that Audibles covers every game.

Cincinnati Bengals 27 at Kansas City Chiefs 24 (OT)

Bryan Knowles: Big news coming into this one is that Tyrann Mathieu is healthy and will play, clear of the concussion protocol. Getting him back helps the Chiefs’ pass defense, obviously, but he’s an underrated part of their run defense as well—the Chiefs allowed 4.6 yards per carry with Mathieu on the field, and 5.4 yards per carry with him off. Getting an All-Pro quality player back for your defense is generally a good thing.

And on the Chiefs’ first drive, the refs spot a third-down play about 2 yards behind where the play actually ended. The Chiefs challenge it and the officials correct their mistake … but Kansas City called a timeout before deciding to do that, so they lost a timeout anyway. Officiating! Andy Reid clock management! We’re playing the hits, everybody.

Aaron Schatz: Chiefs take a 7-0 lead on a classic “take what they give you” drive. Three runs of 8, 8, and 7 yards. Longest play was a 14-yard gain on a dumpoff to Jerick McKinnon and the second-longest play was an 11-yard scramble. This was the kind of drive that makes the Chiefs seem unstoppable because you take away the big plays and they just chisel away with smaller plays.

Dave Bernreuther: I almost wish this game was being played in the elements. In the bright sunshine, the orange of the Bengals’ helmets isn’t too far off from the Chiefs’ red on my screen. Combine that with the Bengals otherwise wearing no orange and thus almost matching the officials, and it’s a mess to my eyes. I know people love the white tiger [lack of] Color Rush look, but it’s weird with the orange helmets, and even weirder with solid black socks. I don’t approve.

Nor do I much approve of their start: a three-and-out followed by an 84-yard touchdown drive allowed is not an ideal start. That said, it’s Patrick Mahomes. And they actually looked decent enough on defense, forcing the Chiefs to use 11 plays to cover that distance. Only a perfect throw and great catch by Tyreek Hill made that touchdown happen. The Bengals seemed to have everyone covered really well for an extended play on that short field.

Scott Spratt: The often-discussed two-high shell thing seems like the least bad way to defend Patrick Mahomes. But the Chiefs are still averaging the most EPA per play against two-high shells since Week 11 or so.

Scott Spratt: The Chiefs had 10 penalties called against them against the Bengals in Week 17, most of which were pass interference or defensive holding penalties. But the refs just missed a Rashad Fenton hold of Tee Higgins that forced Higgins to try to one-hand a fade in the back of the end zone. And without landing that new first-and-goal by penalty, the Bengals settled for a field goal to cut their deficit to 7-3. That seems like a big no-call.

Dave Bernreuther: Yeah. Between C.J. Uzomah going out on a cart, that non-call, and the 44-yard completion to Mecole Hardman to open the next drive, that was not a great few minutes of game time for the Bengals. I wonder if Higgins’ relative lack of anger about his arm being held may have influenced the officials, because that one seemed really obvious, even at game speed.

Aaron Schatz: Looks like the Bengals tried a single-high coverage on that 44-yarder to Hardman. That should be the end of that.

Bryan Knowles: I can see some adjustments the Bengals could make on offense to get things going; I like how they’re sticking away from the double-teams on Ja’Marr Chase and finding ways to make plays with their secondary players. I do not see the adjustments the Bengals could make to slow this Chiefs’ offense down. Kansas City just marches right back down the field; everything is working at the moment.

Scott Spratt: At least the Bengals know they can come back from two scores down against the Chiefs since they did it less than a month ago.

Dave Bernreuther: It sounds overly reductive and cliche to say “there’s no defending that,” but when a quarterback can sneak around like that in the pocket, change his mind and back out to roll to his right, then take enough off the throw while running at speed to lob it to a safe spot for Travis Kelce to run to it … well, maybe there’s just no defending that.

Aaron Schatz: Have the Bengals already benched Hakeem Adeniji for Jackson Carman at right guard? In the second quarter?

Bryan Knowles: And Chris Jones immediately beats Carman for pressure too. This may not be the interior line to be up against when you’re shuffling linemen.

Which means Kansas City is winning in both trenches, as their offensive line is just whipping the Cincinnati front up and down the field. If the Bengals don’t bring help, the Chiefs just hand the ball to Jet McKinnon and run all over them. If they sneak people up to add pressure, Mahomes just throws it to whoever they left uncovered. Cincy looks absolutely discombobulated out there. 35 minutes left is probably too soon to call this thing over, but, well, you can see over from here.

Aaron Schatz: The surprise today is not that the Chiefs’ stellar offense is beating up on the Bengals’ mediocre defense. The surprise is that the Chiefs defense is shutting down the offense that scored so much on them in Week 17. And they’re doing it without sacks so far!

Bryan Knowles: Cincinnati finally gets a big play to break their way, with Samaje Perine turning a little screen pass into a 41-yard touchdown—a defibrillator of a play if I have ever seen one. If the Bengals can crawl to the half down just 21-10, maybe they can get something going in the second half. Of course, Mahomes now has 65 seconds to respond, which is plenty of time for him, seeing as how it’s a positive integer.

Scott Spratt: Of course, the Chiefs now have 1:05 to score at the end of the first half and get the ball first in the second half too. The Bengals may need to go surprise onside to start the second half, Sean Payton-style.

Aaron Schatz: The Bengals played single-high again and Mahomes threw it deep to Tyreek Hill for 33 yards.

Carl Yedor: I didn’t have particularly high hopes for Cincinnati’s prospects of stopping the Chiefs in this one, but this has been a disaster for the Bengals’ defense. The last goal-line stand reduced Kansas City’s yards per play to 8.8 from up over 9.0 before that, but the Chiefs are still averaging nearly a first down every time they snap the ball. That, uh, probably won’t work out in the long run. The Cincinnati offense has shown some signs of life later in the first half, but they will need another stop before they can start making progress on a comeback.

Bryan Knowles: Eli Apple with what might be a game-saving tackle there! With five seconds left, Mahomes throws to Tyreek Hill in the backfield, and Apple makes the play to stop him in the field of play. And, since the Chiefs had to blow a timeout on the first drive during the Spot Brouhaha, that’s the first half. Bengals only have an 11-point deficit rather than an 14- or 18- hole to climb out of, with the Chiefs getting the ball to start the second half.

They absolutely cannot come out with any more single-high coverages. The Chiefs are too fast, Mahomes is too good, and they’re just being shredded. But at least we still have a ballgame!

Scott Spratt: Doing the halftime show next to a musical performance on the field may have been a bad idea.

Bryan Knowles: Yeah, James Brown and company at least need to get on the beat.

I’m wondering what odds I could have gotten on Kansas City scoring zero points on back-to-back possessions around halftime. Bengals got helped by the clock and by some Chiefs not making plays, but two stops are two stops. Step one for keeping this one competitive!

Aaron Schatz: We write a lot about fourth-down decisions but let’s talk about third-down decisions. The Bengals took a deep shot on third-and-14 from the Kansas City 43. This was a mistake because it led to a punt in Kansas City territory! The Bengals should have thrown a shorter pass on third down to either A) set up a reasonable fourth-down go in no man’s land or B) set up a long field goal.

Bryan Knowles: And while we’re critiquing the play calling here, I hated slamming Joe Mixon into the line the play after they hit the big shot to Tee Higgins. The Chiefs were on skates, and the Bengals responded by running right into the teeth of their defense. Stuffed, delay of game, and now they’re behind down-and-distance to get into that third-and-14 to begin with! We talk about fourth-down decisions so much because they’re easy to quantify and dissect, but better play calling keeps them out of those decisions to begin with.

Aaron Schatz: Mike Hilton just got away with a tug on Byron Pringle on third down. Looks like the Bengals defensive backs may have gotten the memo that the refs have swallowed their whistles today and are going to play to match.

Bryan Knowles: I’m pretty sure the point of a screen is to have blockers out in front of your running back, right?

Someone went the wrong way on the screen pic.twitter.com/9Vjt6jNhu5

— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) January 30, 2022

Aaron Schatz: Holy hell, Mahomes just threw a pick, and a bad one. He got rushed after pulling the ball on an RPO and threw it right to a jumping defensive lineman B.J. Hill.

Bryan Knowles: And we have a tie ballgame at 21 apiece. I did not see that coming considering how the Chiefs’ offense was doing everything they wanted in the first half, but the last 15 minutes of game clock have been terrible for Kansas City. And it feels more like the Chiefs not executing more than it feels like the Bengals adjusting defensively, though they have been more physical and adjusted to the laissez-faire refereeing. Offensively, however, I like them throwing the screens and short passes and trusting Kansas City to not be able to tackle—and then, when that draws coverage in and leaves Ja’Marr Chase single-covered, running the fade to him.

Aaron Schatz: I can’t believe the Bengals’ coverage was good enough that Mahomes couldn’t find anyone open on the next third down. Coverage sack. Demarcus Robinson is open but all the way on the other side of the field, Mahomes would have had to throw across his body. Here are the dots:

Here’s the view downfield on that Mahomes sack pic.twitter.com/Zv8ZPtZtXU

— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) January 30, 2022

Scott Spratt: The Chiefs drives have gone for 16, 17, 7, -2, and -4 yards so far in the second half. Was Mahomes cursed by a witch? I’m at a loss.

Aaron Schatz: It’s like at halftime someone switched out the Chiefs offense with the offense from that midseason slump. Like they took a time machine back to the Tennessee game or something.

Bryan Knowles: The Bengals are dropping their safeties back to the state of Kansas, and their linebackers are doing a good job taking away the center of the field. Still doesn’t explain the magnitude of the drop, mind you!

Aaron Schatz: Apparently Joe Burrow just discovered he’s secretly Josh Allen. Scrambled for two first downs in a row on third-and-mediums. On the first one he was in Chris Jones’ grasp. Incredible.

Scott Spratt: Speaking of cursed Chiefs, Chris Jones just can’t get Joe Burrow to the ground for some reason. It’s not like Burrow is Lamar Jackson out there.

JOE BURROW É UM MÁGICO! #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/wlFErGkZAn

— NFL Brasil (@NFLBrasil) January 30, 2022

Aaron Schatz: On third-and-8, Zac Taylor calls a swing pass to Samaje Perine with no blockers in front of it? What on earth was that? Evan McPherson puts it just inside the left upright from 52 yards out and the Bengals have a 24-21 lead but it could have been more.

Scott Spratt: Maybe Perine went to the wrong side again.

Aaron Schatz: I have no idea if this is true but it certainly feels like the Chiefs are putting guys in motion a lot less often in the second half, or at least I’m noticing it less. Although as I type that, motion jet sweep to Hardman for 9 yards.

Scott Spratt: In their Week 17 game, the Bengals drained the last 3:14 in the red zone and ran seven straight plays from the 1-yard line without scoring before they kicked a game-winning field goal. The Chiefs are in a spot where they might just do something similar here.

Bryan Knowles: A 17-yard sack on third down? Did Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes swap teams at halftime?

Aaron Schatz: Not to mention he lost the ball and almost lost the game. That was terrible. So lucky the Chiefs recovered it. Imagine the response if the Bengals had recovered. It looked like Mahomes had Kelce open in the front of the end zone early on in the play. Harrison Butker hits the field goal so we’re going to overtime again, 24-24.

Carl Yedor: Regardless of how this game ends, it has been one heck of a performance from the Bengals’ defense in the second half. I understood that it was still within striking distance for them because of how the first half ended, but I thought there was no way that they were going to hang around for the entirety of the second based on how their defense was playing. Kansas City wins the coin toss again and will have a chance to extend the overtime discourse for another two weeks.

Scott Spratt: Could Tyreek Hill have gotten hurt on the last play of the first half? I’m still trying to come up with reasons for what happened to the Chiefs in the second half.

Bryan Knowles: Tony Romo was going on about possibly letting the Chiefs score, which, up three? No. Never would agree with it. But if the overtime rules were such that you knew Kansas City was getting the ball first in overtime, maybe your decision-making process changes there…

Aaron Schatz: According to the EdjSports model, the Chiefs had a 74.0% win probability on first-and-goal at the 5. If they had scored on that first play, they would have had a 75.3% win probability. The Bengals should not have let them score. And they did in fact stop them and force the field goal.

Bryan Knowles: Eli Apple very nearly ends the game with Mahomes throwing behind Robinson on a slant and Apple dropping a possible pick-six. Well, on the very next play, Mahones goes deep, and the ball bounces off of Tyreek Hill’s hands (great play by Bates to break it up) and into the hands of Vonn Bell. Coin toss, schmoin toss! The 1980 Bengals finished in last place in the AFC Central; they went to the Super Bowl in 1981. The 1987 Bengals finished in last place in the AFC Central; they went to the Super Bowl in 1988. The 2020 Bengals finished in last place in the AFC North; they are going to the Super Bowl. Wow.

Carl Yedor: Credit to Cincinnati. What a gritty performance late in that one. Throughout the second half it felt like the Chiefs were inevitably going to get it together and ice the game away. Even down at the goal line I was wondering whether the Chiefs were going to score with too much time left. Then, the Chiefs win the coin toss, and I had already started mentally preparing for an exhausting two weeks of debate about the overtime rules. But the Bengals had other ideas, and McPherson sent Cincinnati to its first Super Bowl since I have been alive.

Aaron Schatz: I hope this teaches us to stop trying to call games over in the first half. I hope this at least teaches ME to stop trying to call games over in the first half.

Scott Spratt: I think that was the game equivalent of a quarterback who was bad for two years becoming Josh Allen. I’m not sure it’s going to help us predict future results.

Dave Bernreuther: I was on tape delay for the end of regulation and overtime so I have nothing to add here—I assume Mahomes’ brain farts have been discussed—but kudos to Zac Taylor for learning after the Packers game (don’t just settle for the long field goal), and a huge congrats to the long-suffering Rob Weintraub!

Tom Gower: Three terrific drives by the Chiefs offense to start the game. Eight non-terrific drives thereafter. That’s your game story, and how that happened is how we got from 21-3 with five minutes left in the second quarter to the Bengals going to the Super Bowl. It started, of course, with the bad play to Hill at the end of the first half and what appeared to be a pair of mistakes by Mahomes. First, an errant throw that didn’t lead Hill forward and gave Apple a much better closing angle. Second, Mahomes apparently not realizing the game situation and trying to call a timeout, the one Andy Reid, the guy we have made fun of for years, used before his successful challenge on third-and-1 early. But not that big a deal, they got the second-half kick. And Creed Humphrey rolls one back to Mahomes in the shotgun, and Kelce can’t haul in the contested pass (this was an underratedly good throw, but there’s no reason to remember it now), a down after Hill similarly couldn’t make a play. Still 21-10 next drive, a couple of deep shots, the third-down pass incomplete to Pringle. 21-13, the pick. 21-all, Mahomes runs around forever and takes a sack. 21-all after the pick that I thought might have made the difference, Trey Hendrickson gets around Orlando Brown and brings down Mahomes for another sack. Then the drive at the end of regulation, with those nonsense sacks (second down, that’s definitely a play I’d like to see a run called to burn clock). And then overtime, with a couple of targets to DeMarcus Robinson and the pick deep.

The easy blame is to the continued first-down runs. But those three scoring drives to start the game also featured plenty of first-down running. And the Chiefs offensive line was much better, and they had shown a much better ability to run the ball this year. That’s too simplistic. Yes, the Bengals were probably more physical in the second half against the receivers. I have talked too much, perhaps, about the Chiefs’ reliance on Hill and Kelce, and how there were definitely times they could have used a physical outside receiver. This doesn’t need to be a great player; I wrote a column years ago about the influence of Brandon LaFell on the Patriots offense, giving them an extra dimension. Josh Gordon could theoretically have been that player, but that obviously didn’t happen.

The Bengals offense and Joe Burrow will be a key talking point this week. I … wasn’t super-impressed by them? Obviously Burrow did a lot scrambling, and he led the field goal drives both at the end of regulation and in overtime. But this wasn’t Josh Allen at last week’s best being hyper-efficient and getting yardage in big chunks. At one point Burrow was 6-of-13 for 28 yards. It took Cincinnati 17 attempts (and maybe a couple more scrambles) to gain double-digit yards through the air. But they did enough, and recovered after a rough start to the game, that with the defensive improvement, it was enough to win. I still hold a soft spot in my cold, dead heart for the AFC Central, so congratulations to them.

Aaron Schatz: The Bengals have the third-lowest regular-season DVOA of any Super Bowl team since 1983. (It would be fourth-lowest without the Week 18 game where they sat starters.)

2008 Cardinals, -4.0%
2003 Panthers, -0.2%
2021 Bengals, 0.0%
2007 Giants, 1.4%
1987 Redskins, 6.7%

But what a clutch postseason run!

Rivers McCown: Rob, my brother, congratulations to you. I know it’s been many, many years of suffering.

San Francisco 49ers 17 at Los Angeles Rams 20

Bryan Knowles: A game-time decision, Trent Williams is good to go. I know San Francisco beat Los Angeles in Week 18 without Williams, but it’s not exactly an experiment they would care to repeat!

Also, wow, but are the stands red. Reports were saying that the crowd might be two-third 49ers fans. I think that’s an undercount.

Dave Bernreuther: It really stands out on the zoomed-out shots, Bryan. Matches the giant flag very nicely during the anthem.

Good luck to your team. As much as I don’t enjoy watching Jimmy Garoppolo play quarterback, I don’t enjoy the Rams’ owner or bone jerseys either. And a third Bengals-49ers Super Bowl would be a lot of fun for us older folks.

Bryan Knowles: Oh, I’m very impartial here. We’ll see who wins the coin toss, our glorious heroes or the team wearing some of the ugliest uniforms in football.

Scott Spratt: Wow, that Jimmy Garoppolo overthrow of a wide-open George Kittle on a slant was identical to a miss he had in I think the wild-card round. Bryan, do you remember that one?

Bryan Knowles: Sure do, part of the fourth-quarter collapse. Similar to one he missed in Green Bay too, for that matter.

Scott Spratt: Not a banner start for either quarterback with third-down misses that created three-and-outs.

Scott Spratt: Usually Matthew Stafford throws interceptions inside of his team’s 20.

Aaron Schatz: Behind a very well-covered Cooper Kupp, with K’Waun Williams draping him. It’s not just that it was behind him in the route, but based on the coverage, the only place Stafford could throw that ball was in front of Kupp. He didn’t.

Bryan Knowles: Kudos to FOX going with Huey Lewis over the Jimmie Ward interception. But man, if the Rams can keep getting push with that offensive line and have some success running the ball, they’re going to have more opportunities down there at the goal line.

J.P. Acosta: The Rams are finding some success in the run game, which is kinda surprising me considering who they’re playing.

Bryan Knowles: Sean McVay pulled a Shanahan on the 49ers—an 18-play, 9:29 drive that ends with Cooper Kupp in the end zone. Just cutting and cutting away, hitting Kupp whenever they needed something big.

Aaron Schatz: I thought it was a corner route against Cover-2 but a replay shows that Jaquiski Tartt was actually a single-high safety and Ambry Thomas probably should have dropped deep with Kupp instead of leaving him open in the end zone.

Bryan Knowles: So, after the Rams put together a long, clock-killing drive, death by a thousand paper cuts, the 49ers follow right back with their big-play offense. Massive gains from both Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel sending them right down the field to tie the game back up at seven.

… that doesn’t sound right.

Tom Gower: When 49ers beat writer for the Athletic David Lombardi was on with us to preview the divisional round, one of the things he noted was how San Francisco emphasized physically thick players who were able to stand up to contact. You saw that with Samuel on the wide receiver screen touchdown to tie the game at 7-7, with defenders just bouncing off of him and Jalen Ramsey’s attempted shove to keep him out of the end zone not having its intended effect.

Bryan Knowles: Deebo dots. His speed is obviously a huge part of this, but that’s some very solid downfield blocking to spring him; he doesn’t have to outrun anyone at the beginning, and by the time he gets to full speed, he’s gone.

Really great blocking from the 49ers on the screen for the long touchdown here. One LB gets a brief glimpse of a tackling opportunity at Deebo and that’s just not enough, he does the rest. pic.twitter.com/0OyJ7DY1jO

— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) January 31, 2022

Scott Spratt: It isn’t altogether surprising since they were bottom-third with a 7.2% drop rate (32 drops on 444 catchable passes) in the regular season, but the Rams receivers are killing Matthew Stafford with drops tonight. Both Cooper Kupp and Ben Skowronek dropped maybe-touchdowns on the last Rams’ drive. And the team ended up without any points when Matt Gay missed a 52-yard field goal attempt right and short. That keeps the score 7-7 with just under two minutes left in the first half.

Aaron Schatz: Oh boy, Nick Scott may have just taken Deebo Samuel out of the game with a totally legal but very hard hit over the middle of the field. I’m guessing that what really hurt Samuel was hitting the turf, not the hit from Scott itself.

Phew. Samuel walks off under his own power and actually comes back into the game a couple of plays later. Tragedy averted.

Bryan Knowles: Goal one for the 49ers getting the ball back at the end of the half was to drain the rest of the clock. Goal two was to score points. Check, and check. Goal three was to score a touchdown, but this is not a three-goal team. Two stars. Silver medal.

Carl Yedor: The Rams have mostly gotten Good Stafford to this point, but some long fields, untimely drops by the Los Angeles receivers, and a missed field goal have limited them to seven points. San Francisco hit a field goal to take a 10-7 lead entering halftime after the miss from Matt Gay, and I’m curious what Robbie Gould or Jalen Ramsey might have said to start a jawing match between an All-Pro corner and a longtime veteran kicker. This game has been tight throughout, which I think is what most people expected entering the afternoon. San Francisco has no real answer for Kupp in single coverage, Stafford has scrambled enough to move the chains when necessary, and the Rams have gone 7-of-10 on third downs to this point. In a weird way, the Rams both feel quite unlucky to not have more points on the board and quite lucky to have moved the ball as well as they have. 70% on third downs just isn’t sustainable. San Francisco’s offense has not been very consistent at all, and yet they lead and receive the kickoff to start the second half.

J.P. Acosta: The Niners pass rush has really turned up the heat in the latter parts of the half. They’re gonna need to keep it up in order to keep Stafford under pressure without blitzing.

Bryan Knowles: After the concern with Samuel getting hurt at the end of the first half, he returns the kickoff, is targeted on the first play from scrimmage, and runs the ball on the next two plays. I would not expose him to quite so much punishment!

J.P. Acosta: Arik Armstead is getting really close on some pass-rush reps. They need to get pressure up the middle.

Bryan Knowles: Matthew Stafford sneaks have been an ongoing theme in these Audibles, and we just had another one on fourth-and-nothin’. Initial ruling is short by a gnat’s eyebrow, and McVay is challenging. This shouldn’t be a challenge; this kind of sneak shouldn’t get THAT little. Stafford’s sneaking has been terrible this past month.

Carl Yedor: I mean at least McVay is finally going for these very advantageous fourth downs. Picking whoever the Rams kicker is, regardless of season, has long been an asset in fantasy football under McVay because he was so comfortable driving into scoring territory and then kicking field goals. I think the bigger problem on that one was the San Francisco defensive line knifing into the backfield off the snap. I wonder whether the Rams have a counter up their sleeve for when the San Francisco defensive line bumps down pre-snap to clog up the interior gaps. It is happening late enough in the cadence that it may be tough to check to an outside run before the snap, but that’s definitely a potential answer if the Rams can make that check.

Bryan Knowles: I think we can dock Jimmy Garoppolo 2 yards per completion, because that seems to be the bare minimum any 49ers receiver gets before being brought down. Jauan Jennings had a grab about 2 yards short of the sticks on third down, and just dragged everyone forward to convert. That—plus Deebo, Deebo, and some more Deebo—sets up George Kittle to run that little seam route Garoppolo has been missing all postseason long, except he hits it this time. Touchdown, 49ers take a 17-7 lead. It should be noted that I believe it was Eric Weddle who had the responsibility for Kittle on that play, and while Weddle has done surprisingly well this postseason, he was still on his couch a month ago.

Aaron Schatz: Rams fiddle their thumbs and have to take a timeout to avoid delay of game. No way that comes back to bite them.

J.P. Acosta: The Rams burning two timeouts before the fourth quarter seems suboptimal. Probably shouldn’t have challenged the fourth-down spot.

Dave Bernreuther: I love a good flea flicker … but a flea flicker screen? Seems unnecessary. Or pointless. Whichever you prefer.

Bryan Knowles: It did gain 20 yards, possibly because it cleared some linebackers out of the middle of the field. Maybe there are less complex ways to do it, but I can get behind McVay emptying out the back of the playbook here.

J.P. Acosta: Flea flicker screens are cowardly. Either throw a long touchdown or don’t use it

Aaron Schatz: Outstanding route by Cooper Kupp loses K’Waun Williams completely and there’s another touchdown, 17-14 49ers.

Bryan Knowles: I thought Kupp would burn whoever Williams’ replacement was when he went down with an injury, but no, Kupp’s more than capable of torching the starter too. When the Rams go empty (like they were on the touchdown), I don’t know why the 49ers don’t rotate another safety over there and double him. Let Odell Beckham beat you, let Van Jefferson beat you, let whatever a Kendall Blanton is beat you, but don’t give Kupp an opportunity.

Aaron Schatz: San Francisco offensive line has been outstanding today. Fantastic pass protection for Garoppolo and still no sacks for the Rams.

Bryan Knowles: Less fantastic: San Francisco again punting from the Rams’ side of the field. This time on fourth-and-2. But before they do, Sean McVay throws another challenge? Saying that the 49ers fumbled on the third-down play before? Man, I don’t know about that, and it’d be the Rams’ last timeout.

Carl Yedor: I think one of my least favorite NFL coaching tendencies is attempting to draw the other team offside in a situation (like that one) where you clearly don’t want to go for it. All sorts of hemming and hawing, and then you roll out there, shift three times, kill time, take the delay of game, and punt. In some sort of karmic retribution, Stafford launches an arm punt on first down, and Jaquiski Tartt can’t haul in the gimme interception. Next play, Los Angeles hits Odell Beckham for a huge gain down the sideline, and the Rams have the ball right around where Tartt failed to bring in the pick.

Scott Spratt: I feel like that defensive gambit where a safety starts near the line of scrimmage and then sprints backward up the seam turns into a lot of interceptions. Or dropped interceptions in this case.

Aaron Schatz: Kyle Shanahan doesn’t fully pay for punting in Rams territory because the Rams can’t finish the drive, but they do get a field goal so we’re at 17-17. The third-down screen to Sony Michel that finished things was a little bit of overthinking by McVay.

Carl Yedor: This game has been an excellent example of poor clock and game management from both coaches. The fourth downs. Not getting out of the huddle quick enough, leading to delay of game. Very low-probability challenges to waste timeouts. Not calling timeout when it makes sense. And on and on. San Francisco holds the Rams to a field goal with 1:46 remaining, and they will have one timeout left down 3.

Bryan Knowles: Aha, now is the time for Trey Lance, right?

Scott Spratt: That would be sick, Bryan.

Bryan Knowles: And there is the terrible Garoppolo interception we have been waiting for. There is no more fitting way for the 49ers’ season to end than with that.

The Rams break their schneid! They have been unlucky to be 0-6 against the 49ers in the last three years, and there’s a nice sense of … retribution is the wrong word, but balance? Justice? For finally winning one of these. They are and have been the more talented team, and they were finally able to turn that into results. And, because storylines are fun, they had to do it to get to the Super Bowl and they pulled it off. You can’t say this postseason hasn’t delivered!

Scott Spratt: I’m sure Joe Burrow is excited to play Aaron Donald and Von Miller in the Super Bowl.

Also how often do No. 4 seeds meet in the Super Bowl? Can’t be often.

Aaron Schatz: Never. This is the first Super Bowl ever with no team that finished in the top three seeds of its conference.

Tom Gower: Elijah Mitchell finished with 11 carries for 20 yards. Kyle Juszczyk only had the one carry for zero yards before the fourth-and-2 (before delay) punt. Deebo Samuel had some good individual runs, but finished with 26 yards on seven carries. The 49ers base run game was largely shut down by the Rams defense today. The excessive fourth-down conservatism was pretty much a guarantee given what these two coaches are and have been, but I do kind of get it with how well these run games worked. And the team with the better dropback pass game that worked independently of the run game won today. That, at least, feels fitting.