The Cincinnati Bengals started Super Bowl LVI against the Los Angeles Rams with a win in the coin toss, deferring to the second half. For a team that has been much better in the second half of games all year, it seemed like a good enough start.
By the end of the quarter, they were down, 7-3.
That trend followed them into the first drive of the game, where a Trey Hendrickson sack derailed the Rams’ first attempt to go get points. A failed fourth-down try from Joe Burrow on his first drive at least showed the team was going to trust the defense to get plenty of stops.
When the Rams got it back, a key missed tackle by Jessie Bates let the Rams set up this touchdown over Mike Hilton:
OBJ'S FIRST CATCH IS A TOUCHDOWN. #RamsHouse @OBJ
📺: #SBLVI on NBC
📱: https://t.co/K02y40b5Nu pic.twitter.com/4nbf2miuHO— NFL (@NFL) February 13, 2022
It wasn’t long before Ja’Marr Chase put up a big highlight of his own though:
Absolutely RIDICULOUS to be doing this in the Super Bowl as a rookie. @Real10Jayy__
📺: #SBLVI on NBC
📱: https://t.co/K02y40b5Nu pic.twitter.com/eWToObhl2E— NFL (@NFL) February 14, 2022
The Bengals had to settle for a field goal after that, but let’s just say Chase winning a one-on-one with Jalen Ramsey was…very good news.