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put Cincinnati up 17–13. Higgins appeared to get away
with a facemask on Ramsey, but still: It was the longest
touchdown in a Super Bowl in almost two decades and
the longest touchdown that the elite corner had given
up in his six-year career.
The only solace: an awakening of Donald and the
Rams’ pass rush. With 2:06 remaining in the third,
defensive tackle Greg Gaines powered through the
right side of the Bengals’ offensive line, knocking right
guard Hakeem Adeniji into right tackle Isaiah Prince,made a conscious effort not to tighten. To laugh. To
hang out. To enjoy a dinner in town—like for Stafford’s
birthday on Monday night—and a few drinks. To stay
at the same hotel where they always stayed.
They would also accept much more readily the idea
that an opponent would shut down their best offensive
player—Kupp—because they were prepared to unveil
Beckham as the ultimate antidote.
By now, so much of what they had worked for had
come to fruition. Beckham was acclimated to the play-
book. In the playoffs he scored a touchdown against
the Cardinals. He caught six of eight targets against
the Buccaneers and, in the win over the 49ers, logged
his first 100-yard game in more than two years. A torn
ACL he’d suffered late in the 2020 season gave him a
chance to rebuild his body. A controversial ouster from
Cleveland gave him a chance to dominate again, like
he had as a blond-streaked rookie nabbing passes with
just a few digits attached to the football.
Early in the Super Bowl, he was a force, grabbing a
wheel-route touchdown over cornerback Mike Hilton
and moon-walking in the end zone after giving the
Rams a 7–0 lead.
That’s what made what happened next, the inevitable
plot twist in this game, feel so unforgiving. Following a
Joe Mixon trick-play TD pass that brought the Bengals
to within three points in the second quarter, Beckham
was reaching for a low ball on a drag route and slumped
to the turf, grabbing his knee. He’d limp to the sidelines,
pausing brief ly to watch Stafford unsuccessfully chuck
a pass to his replacement, Van Jefferson, before doctorscorralled him and determined he would not return.
Snead felt so heartbroken for Beckham that he
couldn’t bear to leave the receiver’s side. He missed a
chunk of the third quarter.
The Rams suddenly seemed rudderless. A false start.
An incomplete pass, an interception. At halftime, with
momentum so clearly eluding the Rams, Taylor told
his team, “Let’s go out there and win the Super Bowl,”
before Joe Burrow connected on a 75-yard deep shot
to Tee Higgins on the first play of the second half to2022 SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONSSUPER BOWL LVION SECOND-AND-GOAL STAFFORD NOTICED THE BENGALS INCOVER 0. HIS RELATIONSHIP TO KUPP NOW SOLIDIFIED, HE ANDHIS TOP TARGET KNEW WHAT THAT MEANT. QUICK FADE.