A few Super Bowls tempt you to hold your nose. A bunch make you yawn during most of the game. Not last evening. America was mostly entertained from the opening kickoff all the way to a dramatic ending at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
The Bengals had a chance to turn a last minute drive into a game winning touchdown, or at least force overtime with a field goal. Wasn’t to be, though, with the Rams’ Aaron Donald making what will become known as legacy tackles on third and fourth downs to lock up a 23-20 win over the Bengals.
The home town Rams won the NFL’s biggest prize after moving to Los Angeles just six years ago. Owner Stan Kroenke orchestrated the transfer from St. Louis and bitter fans there have no time for him. Think of him as the St. Louis version of North Stars owner Norm Green. But he stood on the field after the game as a Tinsel Town hero.
“Another ending fit for Hollywood, “NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said to Kroenke, the stadium fans and the TV audience.
This was a close and compelling game most of the night. The Rams led 16-13 at halftime but trailed going into the fourth quarter 20-16. The Bengals put together a field goal, and a touchdown in the third quarter that shouldn’t have happened. Bengals receiver Tee Higgins pulled the facemask of Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey who fell to the ground, allowing a 75 yard touchdown. No replay, no overturning the play.
The Rams, trailing 20-16 in the fourth quarter, had to rally on their last possession. Quarterback Matthew Stafford, who played in NFL purgatory for years with the hapless Lions, made clutch throws on a long drive, mostly to Super Bowl MVP wide receiver Cooper Kupp. With 1:25 remaining in the game, Kupp caught a one-yard touchdown pass to put the Rams ahead to stay.
If Rams fans were enraged by the no-call that Higgins scored on, they could empathize with the Bengals faithful late in the game. Before Kupp caught the TD pass a flimsy defensive holding penalty inside the 10-yard line on Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson kept the drive going for the Rams.
The Super Bowl can seem like a football game sandwiched around a suffocating parade of TV commercials. For some Super Bowls a restless viewer can’t reach quickly enough for the remote, even stumbling on to something called the “Puppy Bowl.” But last night’s fourth quarter should have moved you to the edge of your seat.
Here are other Super Bowl musings including a few with tongue planted firmly in cheek.
The big game’s halftime show? NBC’s Maria Taylor teased it as perhaps the “greatest” ever. Oh, my.
Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar. Hmm. Hmm.
You could be at home today, pulling a “Ferris Buehler” after the big game. If so, remember not to post photos on social media that show you seeking a hangover “remedy” at a favorite watering hole.
Americans are convinced their country is in a downward spiral so why not chip further away at “our national fabric” and declare the day after the Super Bowl a national holiday? Or switch the Super Bowl to Saturday nights? Ease the guilt of millions who call in sick on Mondays.
Hate to disappoint but at the last minute the Sports Headliners’ Board of Directors nixed a $7 million expenditure to buy a :30 second TV commercial for last night’s extravaganza. And they wonder why readership is flat.
$7 million? A paltry sum when compared with the record $7.6 billion that was expected to be wagered on the game, per the American Gaming Association. And how was your trip to Wisconsin or Iowa to bet on the Bengals or Rams?
Now 30 states offer legal betting, but not the North Star State. That could change sooner than a Kirk Cousins departure from the Vikings.
The Super Bowl is all about money, from expensive rings to player bonuses, from escalating franchise values to billions spent by American consumers on products and services. See any connection between the disappearance of protests at NFL games and an apparent agreement between league powers and the players’ union?
TV viewership numbers for Super Bowl LVI could be publicized today with the number expected to be about 115 million. Word is neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump watched. Speculation is Biden fell asleep prior to kickoff, while Trump spent the evening in front of a favorite mirror.
During halftime I checked the furnace to see if it was operational. I am traumatized on Super Bowl Sunday because a few years ago I blew out part of the electrical wiring in the house while using a powerful space heater. Ever tried to find an electrician the night of the Super Bowl?
Honestly, I’d prefer to watch the big game near a beach in Florida. A longtime friend sent a post card from the sunshine state and asked when I was headed that way. “I’ll look for you but it’s a big state,” he wrote.
The two head coaches in this year’s Super Bowl, Sean McVay, 36, from the Rams, and Zac Taylor, 38, of the Bengals, weren’t even born when the Vikings played in their last Super Bowl, 1977. The combined ages of McVay and Taylor are the youngest two-some in Super Bowl history.
There has been one MVP in Super Bowl history that played for the losing team. Linebacker Chuck Howley of the Cowboys won the honor in Super Bowl V even though his team lost the game 16-13 to the Colts.