By Steve King

The Team of Destiny got bested by The Team of Determination.

The Cincinnati Bengals seemed destined to win Super Bowl 56 on Sunday night at SoFi Stadium until the Los Angeles Rams’ determination to win it took over.

The Rams’ epic 15-play drive in the final minutes, fueled almost exclusively by Matthew Stafford’s nearly every-play passes to wide receiver Cooper Kopp, including a one-yarder for the game-winning touchdown, provided a tenuous 23-20 lead.

Then defensive tackle Aaron Donald, the best player in the game overall and one of the best on that side of the ball in NFL history, sealed the deal with just under a minute left by stuffing the Bengals twice at midfield with just under a minute left when they needed only a yard to continue the drive.

So, then, instead of the Bengals, in their worst-to-first ascension to the big game, being the story of the year in the NFL, it will instead be the Rams and, in particular, Stafford, who shed the label of a guy who couldn’t make the big play in Detroit to one who could in Los Angeles. Despite losing to a knee injury former Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who was dominating the game and had already caught a TD pass, Stafford refused to wilt and, on that last drive, willed the ball to Kupp time after time when he really had no other viable target.

This was the Rams’ time. They were built to get to the Super Bowl and win it, the last piece to the puzzle being the acquisition via trade of a competent quarterback in Stafford.

So, now the Bengals and the 30 other teams, including the Browns, go into the offseason with the reaffirmation that the championship teams are the ones that make the plays at the very end. That’s when — and how — almost all games, from the regular season through the end of the playoffs, are decided.

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