NFC Championship Game – The sports world reacts as Matt Stafford, OBJ and the Los Angeles Rams win a place in the Super Bowl

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  • Tory BarronESPN Editor

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      Tory Barron is a Bristol-based author and editor for ESPN.com. After retiring from playing lacrosse at UConn, the native DC decided to try her hand at writing about people who play sports.

The Los Angeles Rams went all in this season. Now Matthew Stafford, Odell Beckham Jr. & Co. on the verge of a Super Bowl ring after defeating Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in the NFC title fight.

The Niners presented a frightening obstacle, given that the Rams had lost to them six times in a row before Sunday’s game. But in the renewed rivals’ third meeting of the season, the Rams would not be thwarted.

For only the second time ever, two previous No. 1 overall picks will meet in the Super Bowl (Peyton Manning and Cam Newton in 2016) when Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals travel to LA

The sports world reacted to the news of “Rams to the Super Bowl” accordingly:

Here’s how the Rams secured the NFC title and remaining place in the Super Bowl:

Wild-eavesdropping eavesdropping? Wild-closing eavesdropping. The Rams are on their way to the Super Bowl (well, they’re actually going nowhere), after pressure from Aaron Donald at Garoppolo eventually resulted in a Travin Howard election.

Two Matt Gay field goals later, and the Rams secured a three-point lead with less than two minutes left in the rules.

And like that, we have ourselves a three-point fight in the fourth quarter with the NFC title up for grabs. Stafford found Kupp (who else?) In the end zone for 11 yards and TD.

The Niners extended their lead with a 16-yard TD on a Jimmy G-George Kittle connection. Because when a trip to the Super Bowl is at stake, you play hits.

Stop us if you’ve heard this before: Robbie Gould scored field goal. The 39-year-old remains perfect in the off-season with a 38-yard FG to give the San Francisco 10-7 edge at halftime.

Equally important is this video where Gould remains undisturbed by potential obstacles in the way of his training kick.

Hi, he has a job to do.

Eleven touchdowns in the last eleven games? Deebo Samuel knows a thing or two about consistency. The Niners’ star responded back with his own 44-yard TD to equalize 7-7.

If you guessed that Stafford would find Cooper Kupp in the final zone to start scoring the NFC title fight, you’ve clearly been paying attention this season … and you were right. Including the playoffs, Kupp now has 14 games with a receiving TD this season. That ties Randy Moss in 2007 to third most games with a receiving TD in a season of all time.

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