Odell Beckham Jr. didn't just ride with the Rams to the Super Bowl. He earned his way. (New York Post)
A Super Bowl the Browns might not care to watch – OBJ vs. the Cincinnati Bengals
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from NFL conference championship games …
Odell Beckham Jr. and an Ohio football team have made it to the Super Bowl.
But instead of OBJ going to the Super Bowl with the Ohio football team he used to play for, he’s going to play against the other Ohio football team.
What a crazy conclusion to a crazy NFL season.
On Nov. 5, Beckham was granted his release by the Browns after a messy public divorce from Baker Mayfield. Two days later, the Browns played the Bengals in Cincinnati and handed them their worst defeat of the year, 41-16.
The Bengals were 5-4. Beckham’s future was cloudy. And the Browns looked like they might be on their way to reaching their lofty expectations.
Here’s what happened: Beckham latched on with the Rams, the Bengals figured it out, and the Browns fell by the wayside.
Three months later, it’ll be Beckham’s Los Angeles Rams against the Cinderella Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl.
All of which makes the sting of a disappointing season just a little more painful for the Browns.
Cincinnati Bengals 27, Kansas City Chiefs 24 (OT)
1. For the second time in four weeks, Joe Burrow outplayed Patrick Mahomes. The only other quarterback to do that in Mahomes’ short but illustrious career is Tom Brady. And he’s going to retire, per reports. So what does that make Burrow in only his second NFL season? The Top Dawg? At least in the AFC he is. Burrow has one game left to climb to the top of Quarterback Mountain. Even if he falls short in two weeks, Burrow is going to stand in the way of the Browns for years to come. Yes, the Browns are 3-0 against Burrow. But if you think that will mean anything in 2022 after Burrow’s tour de force in the AFC playoffs, you’re fooling yourself.
2. A week ago, Mahomes’ hyper-spaced drive in 13 seconds to send the divisional playoff game against Buffalo into overtime was the stuff of legend. The final 13 seconds of the first half against the Bengals, however, was a disaster that turned the game around. The Chiefs had the ball at the Bengals’ 15 with :13 left and a 21-10 lead. A pass interference call on Eli Apple put the ball at the 1, but Mahomes failed in two plays to punch it in. The last play was a pass to Tyreek Hill behind the line of scrimmage and the Bengals tackled him as time ran out. The momentum of that defensive stop carried the Bengals over the second half as they staged a record-tying comeback from an 18-point deficit and won in overtime. Mahomes was a different quarterback the second half – rattled, unconfident and mortal.
3. Kicker Evan McPherson was perfect again for the Bengals, making four field goals, including the game-winner in overtime from 31 yards. He’s now 12 for 12 in the playoffs – the most ever without a miss in an NFL post-season. So now the Browns not only have fallen severely behind the Bengals and Ravens at the quarterback position, they also have a lot of ground to make up at kicker with McPherson and Justin Tucker in the division.
Los Angeles Rams 20, San Francisco 49ers 17
1. Beckham didn’t just hitch a ride to his first Super Bowl. The Rams likely wouldn’t have made it without him. He had five touchdowns in eight regular-season games since joining the Rams, and then added 19 receptions on 23 targets for 234 yards in the three post-season games. Against the 49ers, Beckham had nine catches on 11 targets for 113 yards. His critical catch of 29 yards midway through the fourth quarter set up the Rams game-tying field goal. Ultimately, Beckham’s performance away from the Browns underscored the ridiculous lack of chemistry between he and Mayfield. It has to be part of the evaluation of Mayfield when considering whether to bring him back or seek better.
2. If there is a feel-good story on the dream-team Rams built by the wealth of multi-billionaire Stan Kroenke, it is quarterback Matthew Stafford. Mired in 12 years of mediocrity with the Detroit Lions, Stafford fulfilled his promise as the 2009 No. 1 overall draft pick in his first season with the Rams. He proved coach Sean McVay and the Rams right for trading two first-round draft picks and a third-round pick, along with quarterback Jared Goff, to Detroit for Stafford, 33, who had not won a playoff game in his Lions career. The trade was made exactly one year to the day of the Rams’ championship game victory over the 49ers.
3. A terrible finish by 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo assured his exodus, as the team now will concentrate on developing 2021 No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance. Garoppolo’s overall dismal performances in the post-season – plus the 49ers’ stated intention to move on – should diminish his trade value. After the fourth-quarter flop Garoppolo had against the Rams with a 17-7 lead, it’s hard to argue he’d be a viable alternative to Mayfield for the Browns. But if Browns GM Andrew Berry is going to evaluate Mayfield over his four years, he should do the same with Garoppolo and not judge him solely by his inglorious exit from the playoffs.
