First Bengals passing TD of Super Bowl 56? Joe Mixon to Tee Higgins
The Super Bowl is always a time for trickery on offense. The Bengals didn’t take long to dig deep into their bag Sunday to find their first touchdown of the game.
With just under six minutes left in the second quarter, quarterback Joe Burrow pitched to running back Joe Mixon as the Bengals looked to cut into a 13-3 deficit. Rather than run behind his blockers, Mixon stopped and flipped the ball to wide receiver Tee Higgins for a 6-yard score.
Joe Burrow. Joe Mixon. Don’t matter.
The @Bengals have found the end zone. #RuleItAll
?: #SBLVI on NBC
?: https://t.co/K02y40b5Nu pic.twitter.com/De2iB5LZzH— NFL (@NFL) February 14, 2022
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Much of the narrative heading into Super Bowl 56 was whether the Bengals could protect Burrow enough against a stellar Rams defensive line led by Aaron Donald and Von Miller. They had been running the ball with Mixon to keep LA’s defense honest; he had seven rushes for 40 yards to that point.
After Mixon caught the toss, he ran back a few yards to the Rams’ 15, drawing in a wave of Los Angeles defenders. As they came in, Mixon flipped the ball to Higgins in the back of the end zone.
MORE: Bengals’ fourth-down gamble sets up touchdown for Rams, Odell Beckham Jr.
Mixon’s pass was historic for him and the Super Bowl. According to Elias Sports Bureau, he became the first non-quarterback to have more than 40 rushing yards and a passing touchdown in a half in the big game, joining two QBs.
Tricky tricky! Joe Mixon is the third player (and first non-quarterback) with 40+ rushing yards and 1+ passing touchdown in a single half of a Super Bowl. #Bengals #SBLVI pic.twitter.com/JGhJEDLHRi
— Elias Sports Bureau (@EliasSports) February 14, 2022
It was also the second pass at the collegiate level or higher for Mixon. The first one? Also a touchdown.
Before that that four yard TD to Tee Higgins in the SB. This was the only time Joe Mixon threw a TD pass in his career (26 yard TD to Dede Westbrook back in 2016 vs Kansas St. pic.twitter.com/01qNi5KvuC
— Corey Moen (@cor_lob) February 14, 2022
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And keen observers noticed that the Bengals took a page from the playbook of a Rams rival:
The #Bengals‘ Joe Mixon touchdown pass to Tee Higgins was basically the play the #49ers ran in Week 18 from Deebo Samuel to Jauan Jennings.pic.twitter.com/cH58WC5j8C
— Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) February 14, 2022
Needless to say, bettors who had a prop bet on any non-Burrow Bengal throwing the first touchdown pass in the Super Bowl are probably starting the celebration early.
