LA Rams Superbowl Commemorative

ROAD TO A CHAMPIONSHIP AT WHIT’S END THE TACKLE’S L.A. STORY MIRRORS THE RISE OF THE RAMS DURING THE MCVAY ERA BY GREG BISHOP Photographs by John W. McDonough FOR YEARS, when Andrew Whitworth played for the Bengals, he told teammates he would retire. He insisted, every fall, starting around 2011. This is the year, he’d say, I think this is the last one, before inevitably returning for another season—and another season after that, and another season after that. He’s 40 now, and he took the field in Super Bowl LVI as the oldest player in the NFL. He’s older, wiser and grayer. He’s closer (maybe, must be) to the end. With wisdom came perspective and a cosmic tie that helped him fashion the perfect ending, should Whitworth actually stop playing.…

SEASON IN PICTURES The Season THIS SEASON SAW A NEW QUARTERBACK, A STAR RECEIVER PICKED UP AT MIDSEASON, A WORRYING THREE-GAME LOSING STREAK AND A COVID-19 OUTBREAK—BUT IT ENDED WITH THE RAMS ON TOP IN THE TOUGH NFC WEST PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN W. MCDONOUGH ANDY LYONS/GETTY IMAGES (COLTS); KATELYN MULCAHY/GETTY IMAGES (KUPP) HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES (WOODS); LINDSEY WASSON/GETTY IMAGES (HENDERSON); CARLOS M. SAAVEDRA (STAFFORD) PHOTOGRAPH BY SEAN M. HAFFEY / GETTY IMAGES JORDON KELLY/ICON SPORTSWIRE/GETTY IMAGES (SKOWRONEK); GARY A. VASQUEZ/USA TODAY SPORTS (MICHEL); KYLE TERADA/USA TODAY SPORTS (JEFFERSON); STACY REVERE/GETTY IMAGES (PACKERS) PHOTOGRAPH BY GARY A. VASQUEZ / USA TODAY SPORTS MARK J. REBILAS/USA TODAY SPORTS (GAINES); RONALD MARTINEZ/GETTY IMAGES (RAPP); DAVID BERDING/GETTY IMAGES (HOWARD) PATRICK SMITH/GETTY IMAGES (BECKHAM JR.); JAYNE KAMIN-ONCEA/USA TODAY SPORTS (49ERS)…

NFC WILD CARD SOARING START THE DOUBTS ARISING FROM LATE-SEASON STUMBLES WERE QUICKLY ERASED BY A DOMINANT WIN AGAINST ARIZONA BY GREG BISHOP Adapted from SI.com January 18, 2022 NFC WILD CARD RAMS3 4, CARDINALS 11 MICHAEL CHOW/ARIZONA REPUBLIC/USA TODAY NETWORKC COOPER KUPP’S extended family gathered inside Suite 4W-10 when everything came together as the Rams took on the Cardinals in the NFL’s first playoff game to be scheduled for a Monday night. The Kupps could not have asked for a better view (50-yard line, fourth level), better stadium food (sushi, short ribs) or a better reminder of the stakes (SoFi Stadium, which was set to host Super LVI in just under four weeks). As the Rams’ playoff push began, with Cooper at the center of it, they couldn’t help but wonder.…

NFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF ON THE MONEY MATTHEW STAFFORD SHOWED HE WAS THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE RAMS BY COMING UP BIG WITH THE GAME ON THE LINE BY ALBERT BREER Photographs by Simon Bruty RAMS 30, BUCCANEERS 27 Adapted from SI.com January 24, 2022 SEAN MCVAY was in sweats after the game in Tampa, ready for the long overnight flight back to California, and we were remembering a conversation about his new quarterback from back in the summer. Just then, Matthew Stafford came up the tunnel, and the Rams’ coach smiled and told his team captain how we were recalling a certain moniker McVay had given him seven months ago. Stafford knew the one. “To me, when you just see that dude, in crunch time, divisional game, going on the…

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME TIMELY HITTING DOWN IN THE FOURTH QUARTER AGAINST SAN FRANCISCO, THE RAMS ROARED BACK, URGED ON BY THEIR DEFENSIVE LEADER BY ALBERT BREER Photograph by Kohjiro Kinno RAMS 20, 49ERS 17 Adapted from SI.com January 31, 2022 THE RAMS’ GUT-CHECK win over the Niners, giving L.A. its second NFC title in four years, will be remembered in a few different ways. It will be remembered as Matthew Stafford’s redemption game, after a dozen years spent without so much as a single playoff win in Detroit. It will be remembered as the night Sean McVay broke his Kyle Shanahan hex, snapping a six-game losing streak against his old colleague from the Washington coaching staff. But perhaps the 20–17 win should be remembered most as the night when an all-time…

SUPER BOWL LVI Coming Up Big BEHIND THEIR NEW QUARTERBACK AND THEIR DEFENSIVE CORNERSTONE, THE RAMS CAME BACK AGAINST THE BENGALS TO CLAIM THEIR FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP IN 22 SEASONS BY GREG BISHOP AND CONOR ORR PHOTOGRAPH BY KOHJIRO KINNO THE TRIP THAT changed the course of the 2021 NFL season started with an unusual forecast for Los Angeles: gloomy, with a significant chance of rain. The weather matched the mood of the Rams football team, after the Packers ended their season with a bludgeoning at Lambeau Field. Veronika Khomyn knew her fiancé, Sean McVay, needed to get away. So she called Melissa Whitworth, whose husband, Andrew, played left tackle for McVay. “Do you want to get out of here?” Khomyn asked. No hesitation. Of course they did. Both couples—and all four of…