The Cincinnati Bengals entered the second quarter of Super Bowl LVI against the Los Angeles Rams down 7-3.
They hit halftime down, 13-10.
That 7-3 deficit quickly climbed as Matthew Stafford and the Rams needed just over two minutes to march down the field and score a touchdown on a pass to Cooper Kupp.
Funnily enough, a botched snap on the extra-point try by the Rams, which resulted in one wacky lateral by Bengals special-teamers before the play ended, made it simply 13-3, not 14-3.
When every point counts and the Bengals are a second-half team, that was a welcome silver lining.
The touchdown, with Eli Apple and Jessie Bates in the vicinity:
SUPER KUPP.@CooperKupp #RamsHouse
📺: #SBLVI on NBC
📱: https://t.co/K02y40b5Nu pic.twitter.com/DrajgCmlYf— NFL (@NFL) February 14, 2022
But the Bengals had a superb-called drive to answer, with Joe Mixon, of all people, throwing a touchdown to Tee Higgins:
Joe Burrow. Joe Mixon. Don't matter.
The @Bengals have found the end zone. #RuleItAll
📺: #SBLVI on NBC
📱: https://t.co/K02y40b5Nu pic.twitter.com/De2iB5LZzH— NFL (@NFL) February 14, 2022
On the Rams’ next drive, Jessie Bates put an end to it in the endzone by picking off Matthew Stafford. While the defense celebrated, inactive Vernon Hargreaves came onto the field and got called for the team’s first penalty of the Super Bowl, effectively ruining any chance at getting more points before the break.
