Rams Top Bengals to Win Super Bowl

The Los Angeles Rams staged a late comeback Sunday night, scoring a touchdown in the final two minutes to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in the National Football League’s Super Bowl.

After holding a 13-10 lead at halftime, the Rams fell behind quickly in the second half, yielding a 75-yard touchdown to Bengals receiver Tee Higgins.

Cincinnati went into the final quarter ahead 20-16, but could not add to its lead.

With just over six minutes left in the game, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford led a 15-play, five-minute drive that covered 79 yards and finished with the game-winning one-yard touchdown pass to receiver Cooper Kupp.

General view of the interior of SoFi Stadium from an elevated position during Super Bowl 56 football game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022 in Inglewood, California. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

The Bengals were only able to get to midfield in their last-gasp drive before turning the ball over on downs, setting off celebrations on the Rams’ sideline.

Kupp was named the game’s most valuable player, finishing with eight catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns.

“I don’t feel deserving of this,” Kupp said when asked about the award after the game. “The guys standing here challenged me, they pushed me. I am just so grateful.”

Los Angeles coach Sean McVay became the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl at age 36.

The Rams, who returned to Los Angeles in 2016 after playing more than 20 years in St. Louis, are the second team to ever win a Super Bowl in their home stadium, following Tampa Bay’s win at home last year. Sunday’s victory was the franchise’s first Super Bowl win since the 1999 season.

The Bengals were playing in their first Super Bowl since the 1988 season.

Two Win Journalism Award for Work on Underreported Communities

Two freelance journalists have been awarded the 2022 American Mosaic Journalism Prize for their work reporting on underrepresented or misrepresented groups in the United States, it was announced Wednesday.

Julian Brave NoiseCat and Ryan Christopher Jones were each awarded $100,000 by the Heising-Simons Foundation based in Los Altos, California.

NoiseCat is a member of the Canada-based Canim Lake Band of First Nations people, and practices journalism in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, the foundation said.

His articles and podcasts have covered issues such as fatherhood from the perspective of Indigenous men and a movement by homeless Black mothers to reclaim a vacant house they were evicted from in West Oakland, California, the foundation said.

His work has appeared in major publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, The New Yorker and National Geographic.

“Indigenous communities have a perspective and an experience that matters to a broader audience,” NoiseCat said in a foundation news release.

“My work is inspired by a belief that indigenous peoples’ experience and wisdom can contribute to understanding and addressing the world’s most pressing challenges — from the climate crisis to anxieties around imperialism and race.”

Jones is a Mexican American photojournalist and anthropologist. His work has examined the lives of immigrants in California, New York and elsewhere, farmworker communities in central California and issues such as the drug overdose crisis and Mexican American economic mobility, the foundation said.

His work has appeared in outlets including the New York Times, the Atlantic, ProPublica and the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom.

“In the news, photographic depictions of vulnerable communities have often resorted to dangerous tropes and stereotypes,” Jones said in the foundation release. “As a photojournalist it has been my goal to visually document the complex stories of these underrepresented communities with the care and nuance they deserve.”

The prize was awarded for long-form, narrative or deep reporting by a panel of 10 judges that included journalists from major news outlets.