Matthew Stafford's no-look Super Bowl pass even more impressive from new angle

Matthew Stafford secured his career moment on Sunday, leading a late fourth-quarter drive in the Super Bowl that ended with a go-ahead touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp.

But it wasn't the scoring pass that turned heads on Sunday. Instead, it was a second-down pass to Kupp from midfield that got people talking.

The 22-yard pass was the longest play of the 15-play, 79 yard drive that ate 4:48 of game clock and left the Bengals with 1:25 to respond. Stafford took the snap in shotgun on second-and-7 from the Bengals 46-yard line with 3:06 remaining on the game clock.

He looked off Bengals safety Vonn Bell — who was sitting in man coverage — and found a streaking Kupp over the middle to set up first-and-10 at the Cincinnati 24-yard line. Vertical footage of the play shows just how effective Stafford was in executing misdirection.

Stafford freezes Vonn Bell, finds Kupp

Stafford looked to his right as Kupp ran straight down the field from the right slot. Bell watched Stafford from the snap and leaned to the right side of the field, anticipating a throw to Kupp near the numbers. But Kupp cut inside, and Stafford unleashed a strike that Kupp corralled near the right hashmarks. Bell, meanwhile, got caught leaning in the wrong direction. He adjusted when Stafford threw the ball, but it was too late. His last-gasp change of direction couldn't catch up with the ball to break up the pass.

From that angle, it appeared as if Stafford looked right the whole time, even while throwing the ball down the middle. But you can only see where his head is pointing — not his eyes.

New angle shows Stafford's eyes

Footage released on Monday tells the whole story. And, yep. Stafford stared straight down the right side of the field up until his follow through.

Bell accurately assessed that Stafford was looking to Kupp, who was targeted six times on the game-winning drive. But he fixated on Stafford's eyes and didn't stand a chance of defending the pass when it didn't go where he thought it would.

People can reasonably debate how well Stafford played in Sunday's Super Bowl in a 283-yard effort with three touchdowns and two interceptions that served as the only turnovers of the game. But there's no denying how well he executed on a pass that will stand as the defining play from the Rams offense en route to a Super Bowl victory.