The LA Rams win the Lombardi Trophy

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Nick Klein, Contributing writer

As a Cincinnatian, I could remember that one miserable day back in 2016 when I felt the Bengals should have won. With the score of 15 to 0 and the time being only one and a half minutes left, the playoff game should have declared the Bengals victors. However, this was not to be, as Bengals running back Jeremy Hill fumbled the ball and from there things went downhill.

Through childish acts and reacting through their emotions rather than learning from their mistakes, the Bengals lost 18-16 to the Steelers. That night I cried and my dad was so frustrated at the Bengals’ poor performance at the very end.

Six years later, the Bengals changed beyond recognition. Super Bowl LVI was the Ben-gals’ third appearance in the big game, with the two previous appearances being in 1982 and 1989. In these previous games the Bengals lost, but this game offered hope to the Bengals that they would win this time against the Los Angeles Rams.

The game started at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 13, and I was at The Roost with AIM (Autism Initiative at Mercyhurst). I was there only for the first quarter and part of the second quarter, yet I already experienced one of the highlights of the Bengals in the game. Just about a minute and a half away from the end of the first quarter, quarterback Joe Burrow threw the ball at the 35-yard mark on the other side and landed at the hands of Ja’Marr Chase who received the ball less than 20 yards away from the goal but fell just short of the touchdown.

In the end, the Bengals scored a field goal that caused the score at the end of the first quarter to be seven for the Rams and three for the Bengals. At Halftime, the Rams were still leading 13-10 against the Bengals, but in the third quarter, the Bengals went ahead with a field goal and a touchdown. This field goal and touchdown allowed the Bengals to take the lead with the score of 20-16 at the end of the third quarter.

However, similar to the game back in 2016, the victory was stolen at around one and a half minutes left of the game. The Rams scored a touchdown, taking back the lead and winning the game with the score of 23 to 20. Unlike the game back in 2016, the Bengals did play well, and us Cincinnatians didn’t expect the Bengals to be at the Super Bowl this year.

While some people have been frustrated as to why the Bengals didn’t win, I believe that the Bengals at least deserve credit for how much sportsmanship and effort they put into their previous games to eventually make it to the Super Bowl.

As a Cincinnatian myself, I hope that the Bengals will truly win the Super Bowl someday in my lifetime and although I have only watched part of the event, I am so glad that I have witnessed the spectacular game between the Bengals and the Rams live on television.