INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Tyler Boyd picked a bad time for his first drop of the season.
The Bengals’ wide receiver had a Joe Burrow pass hit him right in the hands on third-and-9 with 6:20 left in the game and his team clinging to a 20-16 lead in Super Bowl LVI. Boyd had not dropped a pass all season, according to Pro Football Focus, but the ball bounced off his hands in one of the most critical moments of the Bengals’ season.
Cincinnati had to punt and the Rams moved down the field and scored the go-ahead touchdown on the next drive.
“That’s football,” Boyd said. “I don’t think I’m getting down on myself after one drop. I still needed to catch it and get the first down. But I’m human. I’m going to drop passes here and there. I don’t beat myself up over things like that.”
There is no guarantee that the Bengals would have won the game if Boyd caught the ball. They still would have needed to drain more time off the clock or score to increase their odds, but it felt like they had some momentum before Boyd’s miscue.
The Bengals took over at their own 16 with 9:58 left after holding the Rams to a three-and-out.
Joe Mixon gained 20 yards on the first two plays and the Bengals converted a third-and-2. With Burrow limping around, they were relying more on the run than they had been but it seemed to be working. But then a Burrow pass to Mixon ended up in a 3-yard loss. That set up second-and-13. A 4-yard gain by Mixon made it third-and-9. Burrow put a pass right on Boyd across the middle and he looked like he probably would get the first down or at least set up fourth-and-short at midfield. Instead, the Bengals had to punt.
Cincinnati got one more chance after the Rams scored but they stalled at midfield and the game was over.
“We believe in Joe and we believe in our offense to go down and score whenever we need to, especially in crucial times,” Boyd said. “We always deliver. Unfortunately it didn’t go our way. I know we’ll be back, though.”