But to Bardwell there was a lingering mystery: With an avowedly evangelical electorate in Iowa, why had Cruz, a man who launched his campaign at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, not attacked Trump for his lack of faith, or his faithless acts?
When the Bucs slot cornerback who was lined up over Cruz blitzed Manning after the snap, Manning knew he'd have Cruz working on Barber.
Cruz and Manning have appeared to miscommunicate on several plays, including one on a critical third down against the Steelers.
But David Wilson, who struggled to gain yards between the tackles, picked up just 5 yards on two successive carries and then Kevin Hardy, playing for Cruz, dropped Manning's pass at the goal line.
As he does so often, Cruz beat his man off the ball.
But then, Cruz is a man with a modest view of his own historical importance.
Mark Weinstein, the lawyer for one of the robbery suspects, Hector Cruz, said, "This man's arrest makes me feel like I have a great deal more to think about in the case".
In an awkward exchange, Cruz faced the man and told him that in spite of his family's experience, millions of Americans had lost their health coverage because of Obamacare.
Mort Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America ZOAa), a group which historically has been heavily funded by Adelson and is co-sponsoring Wednesday's rally, praised Cruz as a "man who tells the truth" about the Iran nuclear deal, and said that "inadvertently this could benefit his appeal to some donors".
With 70percentt of precincts reporting the mood is festive among people at Cruz HQ: Their man is ahead.
