I’m a Bengals fan who live-blogged the Super Bowl, and it was pain

Writing through the Super Bowl as a Bengals fan.

Wow. Super Bowl 56. I should have been rooting for the Rams, being that I’m a California native, but I got hooked on the Bengals during the Ochocinco years when I was in elementary school. Needless to say, my experience as a fan has been exactly that — an experience.

But the Bengals are cool again, and they’ve had a cool run this postseason that came out of nowhere. I found myself in this weird state of mind trying to watch the game and…enjoy it? Be happy they’re in the big game? Be too attached to the outcome? Some combination of all three.

Here’s my experience from the couch.

Pregame:

I treated this gameday much like one of my own (hilariously) because that’s all I knew for about 20 years of my life. I’m beyond superstitious, so I woke up and got the vibes right immediately by playing some music on speaker, as I’ve done before every Cincinnati playoff game. I’m a heavy West Coast hip-hop/R&B guy, but not today. I wasn’t about to voluntarily bring any Los Angeles vibes into my household while we prep for the Rams. No, sir.

The vibes were good, and so was the brunch prepared by my wife. Pancakes, eggs, bacon and grits? AMEN. Vibes increased from there after seeing Joe Burrow’s pregame outfit. But I couldn’t help but feel anxious as the game grew closer so I took a pregame nap (LOL).

First Half:

Nervous, but ready to go now. The opening kickoff goes through the end zone, and I still can’t really believe the Bengals are in the Super Bowl.

Both defenses took control early on before Matthew Stafford and the Rams got rolling. One touchdown, then two. But I remained even-keeled through it all. “We’ve been here before,” I’m convincing myself as the Bengals fall down 13-3. And sure enough, Joe Mixon throws a touchdown pass to Tee Higgins? Ok. sure. We’ll take a 13-10 deficit into the half and take the ball coming out of the half.

Halftime:

Now I can enjoy the great West Coast music. Snoop Dogg? Dr. Dre? Kendrick Lamar? Mary J. Blige? Eminem? RANDOM 50 CENT? Vibes reset to a hundred thousand. Seeing Evan McPherson chilling and taking in the halftime show from the field only added to it.

Second Half:

Before I even get a chance to settle down from the great halftime show…WHAT! TALK TO ME NICE TEE HIGGINS. LET’S GO, CHIDOBE AWUZIE. What in the world is going on to begin the second half? I have no idea but I’m loving it. But I’m staying calm because I feel like bad things will start happening if I break character.

As the Bengals took a 20-13 lead, I suddenly became more nervous than excited. Does that make sense? Believe it or not, most athletes probably find it harder to play with a lead than from behind. You get tight and you feel a little bit of pressure. I think the Rams defense sensed it. Whatever happened, the D-Line turned all the way up. Von Miller, Aaron Donald and Co. didn’t allow Cincy much of anything after the seven-point lead, and now the third quarter has zoomed past.

The fourth-quarter clock started TICKING, and at this point, I’m nervous as heck. The offense couldn’t do much and Joe Burrow gets his leg rolled up on.

As LA took over the ball, down one score with about six minutes remaining, I knew what was coming. This was especially true after Cooper Kupp rushed for a first down on 4th-and-1. It felt like a bad dream that I couldn’t wake up from. And as only Hollywood would have scripted it, Matthew Stafford found Kupp for the go-ahead touchdown. Then Aaron Donald effectively ended the game with two huge plays on the final drive.

Pain.

Alright. Where do I go from here? Do I fall back into a pessimistic state going forward? Or should I feel like this is only the beginning of something good?

This stinks. Blog through the pain, I guess.

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