By Geoff Hobson
Bengals.com
In the Hollywood foothills Sunday, the Bengals took an improbable story that would have been rejected by any scriptwriter in town, but couldn’t produce their first ever Lombardi Trophy in heartbreaking 23-20 loss to the Rams on the steamy sound stage of Super Bowl LVI.
The Bengals were creeping to rookie kicker Evan McPherson’s field goal range with 40 seconds left at midfield on fourth-and-one, but the Rams future Hall-of-Fame defensive tackle Aaron Donald made the signature play when he nearly sacked quarterback Joe Burrow and made him get rid of a desperate throw that had no shot. The play defined how the L.A. pass rush took over the game with a Super Bowl-record tying seven sacks.
The Bengals defense that had supplied so much magic at the end of games in this postseason, couldn’t conjure up any more. It incurred three penalties in 10 seconds inside the 10 inside two minutes.
It set up Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford’s rolling one-yard flip to wide receiver Cooper Kupp with 85 seconds left to give them the margin of victory. It was Kupp’s second touchdown of the game and gave him 92 yards and the Super Bowl MVP trophy against a stubborn defense that deserved a better fate.
With 1:47 left from the 8, linebacker Logan Wilson was called for a hold on Kupp. Then a TD was wiped away by offsetting penalties, a Rams’ hold and roughing on Bengals safety Vonn Bell. Again on Kupp. Then cornerback Eli Apple was called for holding Kupp and that put the ball on the Bengals 1.
The Rams pass rush, docile in the first half with just one sack in the last minute, erupted in the second half and their record-tying seventh sack was particularly vicious early in the fourth quarter and sent Burrow limping to the sidelines grabbing his right knee. Rams edger Von Miller and outside linebacker Leonard Floyd broke him in half and twisted on a third-down play that sickened Who Dey Nation. When right tackle Isaiah Prince belted Floyd for the shot on Burrow, it was Prince who got flagged.
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