Super Bowl LVI Recap and Takeaways

The Cincinnati Bengals fell to the Los Angeles Rams 23-20 in a Sunday night thriller at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles, California. This was a tight battle that was a nail-biter until in the end with a Cooper Kupp touchdown with just over a minute and a half in the game. He went on to win the Super Bowl MVP, which makes him the eighth player to win this award as a wide receiver.

The Bengals, after winning their first playoff game in 31 years, will need to go back to the drawing board again next year to give Joe Burrow some more help with this offense. This is the Rams' second Super Bowl, one being as the St. Louis Rams.

Let’s recap this game and some takeaways from this thrilling night.

Recap

The Rams took an early lead with a Mathew Stafford touchdown throw to Odell Beckham Jr. in the first quarter. Beckham Jr. eventually came out of the game due to a knee injury shortly after. It was 7-3 Rams after the first quarter.

The Bengals showed some life in the second quarter, outscoring the Rams 7-6 with a touchdown thrown by Joe Mixon to Tee Higgins. Cooper Kupp was awarded his first touchdown, but the snap was muffed by the holder for the point after which resulted in the Rams only getting six points.

The Bengals controlled much of the third quarter by scoring ten of the thirteen points in the quarter but were shut out in the fourth quarter due to some heavy pressure on Joe Burrow, who appeared to have a stinger after getting sacked. Cooper Kupp caught the sole touchdown in the fourth quarter to give the Rams the lead and eventually the win in Super Bowl LVI.

Takeaways

The first takeaway from this game and the playoffs is that Joe Burrow is a special talent and the Bengals are lucky to have them. They should not have had the talent to make it to the Super Bowl, but he put the team on his back and gave them the leadership to win their first playoff game in 31 years and make it all the way to the Super Bowl.

Cooper Kupp is a generational talent and was very much deserving of the Super Bowl MVP. I would say the Bengals did a pretty good job of covering him, but he ultimately made the plays that the Rams needed to win the game and haul in two touchdowns. He was a nightmare for defenses to defend all season and came up big on the biggest stage of the season.

In a game where most people were betting against the Bengals, they showed up and gave the Rams a run for their money. Besides the first quarter, the Bengals controlled much of the game. There was no one Bengals fan that didn’t think the Bengals had a chance after hanging with the Rams in the first half. This Bengals team is young and will be dangerous for years to come.

Conclusion for Bengals Fans

Congrats to the Los Angeles Rams who won that game fair and square. With all of that being said, I am proud of this Bengals team and all Bengals fans should be as well. Although it hurts to lose the way that we did, we have a very special team that has a lot of room for growth. We proved the haters wrong all season and not only won our first playoff game in 31 years but won two more to make it to the Super Bowl.

Keep your heads high and believe in the team who brought the whole city together to have faith in their team once again.

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