The late baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti wrote that the game "is meant to break your heart". It applies to football, too.
It had been 33 years since the Cincinnati Bengals last played in the Super Bowl, losing to San Francisco. Current NBC color analyst Cris Collinsworth was on that team, so you'd understand if he had to keep his emotions in check during Sunday's Super Bowl. These Bengals, with Heisman winner Joe Burrow, a 2nd year pro out of LSU, at the helm, were poised to bring a title home to Cincinnati for the first time since the Reds won the World Series in 1990.
The Los Angeles Rams, though, were just three years removed from being outplayed by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Sean McVay's club had collected a receipt on Brady already, knocking Tampa Bay out in the NFC divisional round. Ending this Cinderella story wasn't going to be easy.
Nearly halfway through the first quarter, Matthew Stafford hooked up with ex-Giant Odell Beckham, Jr. for the game's 1st score. Beckham, however, would injure his knee in the second quarter and did not return.
After an Evan McPherson field goal cut the lead to 7-3, Stafford connected with Cooper Kupp for a touchdown, but punter Johnny Hekker, holding for kicker Matt Gay, nearly had a Garo Yepremian moment when he botched the hold on the extra point. Burrow then hit Tee Higgins with a 6 yard TD toss, and the Rams led, 13-10, at the break.
Higgins struck again just 12 seconds into the third quarter, but got away with tugging the face mask of the Rams' Jalen Ramsey. The zebras were largely letting them play, of course, as Collinsworth observed in the first quarter. This second touchdown toss covered 75 yards, and Cincinnati had its first lead. Following a Stafford interception, McPherson increased the lead to 20-10.
It stayed that way until Gay hit a 41 yard field goal with just over 9 minutes left in the frame. Late in the fourth quarter, things just went crazy. Kupp had a TD catch called back due to offsetting fouls. Then, another ex-Giant, Eli "Baked" Apple, was called for pass interference, then was beaten by Kupp for the game winning score. Apple had been burned earlier by Beckham.
Burrow, who led the league in being sacked, was dropped 7 times by the Rams' defense. In contrast, Stafford was only sacked twice. Kupp was named game MVP as the Rams won, 23-20.
We'll talk about the commercials another time.
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