LOS ANGELES — It was a stunning result when it occurred on Halloween, and now it looks even more hard to believe with the Bengals AFC champions and in the Super Bowl.
The Jets beat the Bengals 34-31 on Oct. 31 at MetLife Stadium, one of the most shocking scores in the NFL season. The Bengals blew a 31-20 lead and Jets backup quarterback Mike White threw for 405 yards in the game.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Friday the Bengals took some lessons from that loss.
“You can’t allow a team to regain the momentum,” Taylor said. “Any team that loses a game can always say, ‘Oh, man, we had it and we let it get away.’ That’s every team that’s ever lost. We just had to learn from specific moments in that game offensively and defensively, moments where if we could have held onto the momentum here we would have won this game, but we didn’t. They did.”
Taylor also said the Bengals learned a valuable lesson about playing on the road that day. After that loss, the Bengals went 4-1 on the road, including two wins in the playoffs away from home.
“Part of it was playing on the road,” Taylor said. “It wasn’t like the stadium was packed but I felt the energy in that crowd supporting that team. I guarantee you the Jets felt that as well. Those are moments that we store away and we have to learn from and it helped us play really well on the road later in the season.”
Rams TE out Sunday
Tight end Tyler Higbee will not play in the Super Bowl for the Rams. He was placed on injured reserve Friday.
Higbee injured his knee two weeks ago in the NFC Championship game victory over the 49ers and was not able to return to practice. It is a loss for the Rams, as the veteran caught 61 passes for 560 yards and five touchdowns in 15 games this season.
Without Higbee, the Rams at tight end will turn to Kendall Blanton, who played well (five receptions for 57 yards) in the title game against the 49ers.
The Rams will be without backup offensive tackle Joseph Noteboom, who was also placed on reserve/injured reserve.
Uzomah ‘looking really good’
It appears Bengals TE CJ Uzomah will be ready to play two weeks after suffering a sprained MCL.
“CJ is looking really good,” Taylor said. “He’s on track to play.”
Uzomah did not practice until Thursday but has maintained all week that he would play. He had 49 catches for 493 yards and five touchdowns during the regular season.
Rams RB activated
Running back Darrell Henderson was activated off IR. Henderson has not played since hurting his knee in Week 16 of the regular season. Henderson’s availability should benefit the running game, as he had 149 rushing attempts, 688 yards and five touchdowns this season. He will join Cam Akers and Sony Michel as running back options for the Rams.
Coughlin on TV pregame
Tom Coughlin will be featured in NBC’s pregame coverage of Super Bowl LVI, providing a message to the 53 million caregivers in the United States. Coughlin assumed that role to care for his wife, Judy, who he will pay tribute to in the video, entitled, “Caregiving: The ultimate love story.” Former Giants Eli Manning and Justin Tuck also make appearances. Coughlin’s life work, The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund, cares for the needs of young cancer patients and their families.