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Brady HendersonESPN
TAMPA, Fla. — When the Los Angeles Rams acquired Matthew Stafford in a blockbuster trade last winter, the veteran quarterback said he wanted to play in big games, an opportunity he seldom received during 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions.
Stafford and the Rams — fresh off a dramatic 30-27 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium — are now one victory away from the biggest game of all.
And they nearly blew their chance to get to the NFC Championship Game, losing four fumbles and a 27-3 third-quarter lead to Tom Brady and the defending champions before Stafford led a 63-yard drive in the closing seconds to set up the winning field goal.
“In my mind, I live for those kind of moments,” said Stafford, who pulled off the 43rd game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime of his career, the most of anyone since he entered the league in 2009. “I would have loved to have been taking a knee up three scores, but it’s a whole lot more fun when you’ve got to make a play like that to win the game and just steal somebody’s soul. That’s what it feels like sometimes where they’re sitting there going, ‘Man, we just had this great comeback.’ And you get to reach in there and take it from them.
“That’s a whole lot of fun.”
Stressful, too.
The Rams’ fourth lost fumble — and running back Cam Akers’ second of the game — set up the Buccaneers’ tying touchdown with 42 seconds left. On the ensuing drive, Stafford hit All-Pro receiver Cooper Kupp for gains of 20 and 44 yards to set up Matt Gay’s 30-yard game-winner. What was nearly an epic collapse became an emotional victory that set up a date with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at SoFi Stadium. Los Angeles will have the chance to do what Tampa Bay did last season and play in the Super Bowl on its home field.
2 Related
According to Elias Sports Bureau research, the only other team to lose a 24-point lead in a playoff game and still win was the Chargers in 1981.
“That’s why you play four quarters and try to finish that game out,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “That was something else. That was something else.”
Stafford turned in another clean performance, tossing two touchdown passes, rushing for another and not throwing an interception for the second straight game. He again got help from his loaded cast of offensive players, and the Rams’ star-studded defense sacked Brady three times and forced him to commit two turnovers, only to allow three touchdowns over the final 16 minutes. Two of those scores were set up by Rams fumbles — Akers’ second and an earlier one from Kupp — that gave Tampa Bay the ball at the Los Angeles 30.
World football’s top players and managers of 2021 were recognized at The Best FIFA Football Awards show Monday. Below, theScore runs down the winners of the various trophies.
Best Men’s Player
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, Poland national team)
He may have missed out on the Ballon d’Or in contentious fashion, but Lewandowski owns FIFA’s top individual accolade. The Bayern Munich striker captured The Best FIFA Men’s Player award for the second successive year, beating out Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah. The prolific Lewandowski broke multiple Bundesliga scoring records in 2021, eclipsing the legendary Gerd Muller for goals in both a single campaign and a calendar year.
Best Women’s Player
Alexia Putellas (Barcelona, Spain national team)
Putellas has now won every imaginable accolade. She’s UEFA’s women’s midfielder of the year and player of the year, the reigning women’s Ballon d’Or winner, and now, the Best FIFA Women’s Player. It’s richly deserved, too. The 27-year-old recorded 27 goals and 19 assists for Barcelona in 2020-21, leading them to the women’s La Liga and Champions League titles. Putellas’ most impressive feat came in September when she completed a hat-trick in just four minutes.
Puskas Award winner
Erik Lamela – Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal (March 14, 2021)
Erik Lamela wins the 2021 Puskas Award! ?pic.twitter.com/jcBrM0enXz
— GOAL (@goal) January 17, 2022
Lamela stunned the world with an outrageous rabona in the north London derby – his second such feat for Tottenham Hotspur. Already named the goal of the season in the Premier League, the Argentine’s spontaneous strike has now rightly received global recognition.
Best Men’s Coach
Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea)
Tuchel masterminded a complete turnaround at Chelsea, taking the Blues from 10th in the Premier League to the summit of European football within five months of his appointment last January. The German tactician won plaudits for the way he organized Chelsea, and his defense-first tactics paid dividends in the Champions League final as the west London side beat Manchester City to claim its second European Cup.
Best Women’s Coach
Emma Hayes (Chelsea)
A sweep of the coaching prizes for Chelsea. Hayes was speechless Monday when she was named this year’s winner. The longtime Chelsea coach shouldn’t have been, though, after leading her side to a domestic treble in 2020-21. In capturing the Women’s Super League, FA Cup, and League Cup crowns, the 45-year-old tactician became the first Chelsea manager to win all three domestic titles in the same season.
Best Men’s Goalkeeper
Edouard Mendy (Chelsea, Senegal national team)
Mendy has been vital to Chelsea’s success since joining the club in 2020, solidifying what had been a problematic position for the Blues. The Senegalese shot-stopper backstopped Chelsea to the Champions League title in 2021 and finished the calendar year with more clean sheets (29) than goals conceded (27). After his shocking omission from the Ballon d’Or shortlist, the 29-year-old’s spectacular season has finally garnered the respect it deserves.
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Christiane Endler (Lyon, Chile national team)
After finishing second in each of the last two years – to Sari van Veenendaal in 2019 and Sarah Bouhaddi in 2020 – Endler finally landed the award on her third try. The Chilean netminder backstopped Paris Saint-Germain to the Division 1 Feminine title last season, posting 19 clean sheets while allowing just four goals over the entire campaign.
Men’s FIFA FIFPro World11
Gianluigi Donnarumma; David Alaba, Leonardo Bonucci, Ruben Dias; N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Kevin De Bruyne; Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi
? THIS is the 2021 Men’s FIFA FIFPRO #World11
By the players, for the players.@FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/i0dYe7KUwI
— FIFPRO (@FIFPRO) January 17, 2022
Women’s FIFA FIFPro World11
Christiane Endler; Lucy Bronze, Wendie Renard, Millie Bright, Magdalena Eriksson; Estefania Banini, Carli Lloyd, Barbara Bonansea; Vivianne Miedema, Marta, Alex Morgan
? THIS is the 2021 Women’s FIFA FIFPRO #World11
By the players, for the players.@FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/710e5SqqOK
— FIFPRO (@FIFPRO) January 17, 2022
FIFA Fair Play Award
Denmark national team, medics, and coaching staff
This was never in doubt. The Danish national team, medics, and coaching staff were collectively bestowed the Fair Play Award in recognition of their heroic, life-saving efforts when Christian Eriksen went into cardiac arrest at Euro 2020. Everyone involved – from captain Simon Kjaer to team doctor Morten Boesen – helped resuscitate the star midfielder, avoiding a potentially devastating outcome after Eriksen collapsed during Denmark’s opening match at the tournament.
