The Bengals' magical ride concluded without a Lombardi Trophy on Sunday night at SoFi Stadium.
Cincinnati valiantly fought in Super Bowl LVI and even held a seven-point lead midway through the third quarter. But the NFL's most coveted hardware ended up going to the Los Angeles Rams, whose 23-20 win brought the franchise its second Super Bowl championship.
The Bengals' loss was to no fault of Joe Burrow. The second-year quarterback threw for a respectable 263 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions in the first Super Bowl appearance of his young career. A few hours after blue and yellow confetti fell down on Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and company, Burrow broke his silence on Twitter.
"Sorry we couldn't get it done. Proud of our team and our fans. Love these guys," Burrow posted.
The loss on football's biggest stage undoubtedly will sting for Burrow and his teammates for some time. But the 25-year-old plans to use the defeat as "fuel" moving forward as the Bengals try to defend their AFC championship in the 2022 season.
NESN's big game coverage is presented by Berkshire Bank.
