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The Los Angeles Rams will be the second team in NFL history to play a Super Bowl in its home stadium thanks to a 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers Sunday in the NFC championship game at SoFi Stadium.
Matt Gay kicked the tie-breaking 30-yard field goal with one minute, 49 seconds to play as the Rams completed a comeback from a 10-point fourth- quarter deficit.
The Rams will face the Cincinnati Bengals, a 27-24 overtime winner over the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game earlier Sunday in Kansas City.
The Rams cut the deficit to 17-14 on Matthew Stafford’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp with 13:35 left and tied the score on Gay’s 40- yard field goal with 6:53 remaining.
Stafford completed 31 of 45 passes for 337 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
Jimmy Garoppolo competed 16 of 30 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns with one interception for San Francisco, who had defeated the Rams six consecutive times, including a 27-24 overtime victory at SoFi Stadium Jan. 9 in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season became the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium, Raymond James Stadium, where they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9, in Super Bowl LV.
The Rams lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-19, in Super Bowl XIV played at the Rose Bowl in 1980, but the team played its home games at the Coliseum. In 1985, the 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins, 38-16, in Super Bowl XIX held at Stanford Stadium, but the team played its home games at Candlestick Park.
The last time the Super Bowl was played in the Los Angeles area was 1993, when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills, 30-13, at the Rose Bowl in Super Bowl XXVIII.
