1988 Replay and stats

[dophin26]

RFK stadium hosted the San Francisco 49ers Sunday and found out just how much difference a year can make. Washington had been using a combination of deep passes to their terrific receivers and sweeps by Timmy Smith and Kelvin Bryant, a lethal combination. The 49ers, however, got this far by using a short passing game and the legs of HB Roger Craig.


With the wind whipping more than 10 miles an hour on the field, the 49ers took the opening kickoff and slowly, methodically, moved the ball downfield and scored a TD. Craig punched it in on 3^rd and 2 at the goal line. It seemed to set the tone for the game.


Washington, not to be outdone at home, came right back with a long drive of their own. It took the remaining time in the quarter and a minute of the second. On 4^th and 1 at the2 yard line, coach Joe Gibbs decided to gamble, but it wouldn’t pay off. Jamie Morris took the handoff from QB Mark Rypien and got stoned at the line of scrimmage by Barry Wilburn and Todd Bowles.


San Fran took over, but went three and out. After a short punt, the Skins drove again and with 2:14 left on the clock, Rypien lofted a beauty of a pass to the corner for Art Monk to tie the game at 7-7.

The third quarter saw only one scoring drive. The 49ers went on a 14 play drive that ate most of the quarter and was keyed by a TE John Frank fumble that was picked up by lineman Steve Wallace and advanced another 17 yards. It was the turning point of the second half. The Redskins had played well to that point, but seemed deflated after the play.


With the 49ers now up 14-7, Washington went to the air, perhaps a little too early and often and Rypien found himself on his back quite a bit. One drive was successful at producing a FG, but that would be it for Washington. The 49ers added a couple cheap scores at the end after some fourth down situations, and the Niners rode out with a 28-10 win.

[dophin26]

“Too many weapons.”


That was the comment that stuck when coach Marv Levy addressed the media after the Bengals dismantled the Bills 38-14.


“It could have been worse,” continued Levy. “We had a few lucky bounces our way, or we might have been looking at 45 or more points.” The comment was right on the mark. Cincinnati had an answer for everything Buffalo through at them.


In the first, Buffalo had to rely on QB Frank Reich, as Jim Kelly was out with food poisoning. Reich, normally a leader in the locker room and in practice, couldn’t muster his troops today. He and the Bills went 3 and out and Cincy took advantage. As the Bills stacked the line in anticipation of FB Ickey Woods running the ball, QB Boomer Esiason took advantage of wide open flats and deep flag routes. In just two plays, Esiason hit WR Tim McGee, left in one-on-one coverage, deep for a 53 yard TD score. 7-0 Bengals.


Robb Riddick fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Bengals capitalized on it with seven consecutive running plays, capped by a 1 yard plunge by HB James Brooks. 14-0 Bengals.


Reich couldn’t get his team moving once again and the Bills were forced to punt on 4^th and long. Cincinnati took the punt and drove 49 yards to field goal range, where K Jim Breech put Bengals up 17-0.


Reich came out once again and through what looked to be an easy swing pass, but CB Rickey Dixon was baiting Reich and he stepped in front of the throw and took it back deep in Buffalo territory. The Bills made their first decent stand on this drive when Nate Odomes picked off Esiason in the end zone.


Buffalo, needing something to happen for them, got a spark when Jim Kelly strapped on his helmet for the first time and jogged out on to the field. Clearly Buffalo was a different team with him under center. He guided the team on seven plays in Bengals territory, but a let down from the line allowed Kelly to be sacked and the drive stalled.



Cincinnati would capitalize once again, using a 13 play drive and a 12 yard pass to WR Tim McGee to get another TD and go ahead 24-0. To their credit, the Buffalo faithful stayed in the stands during halftime.
Down 24-0, the Bills had to kickoff to start the third quarter. One play into the Bengals’ drive, Boomer Esiason through a beautiful pass, except it was to Buffalo’s Shane Conlan, who returned it 24 yards for the TD. Just like that, the Bills were on the board, 24-7.


“Too many weapons.”


It showed on Cincy’s next drive. It took just eight plays, but Esiason audibled twice from 8 man fronts to long passes down the sideline to set up Ickey Woods’ 3 yard dive into the end zone. 31-7 Cincinnati.
Buffalo still had Jim Kelly and he was feeling much better at this point. Kelly hit several passes to move down field and finally lofted a perfect throw to Andre Reed in the end zone for a TD to make the game a little closer at 31-14.


In the fourth, Esiason threw two long passes to Eddie Brown, who seemed to be an afterthought to the Bills secondary. One was 35 yards and the other 23. It set up a nice little swing pass on 3^rd down when the Bills brought the house, trying to get a sack. James Brooks walked into the end zone and the game ended 38-14. Kelly tried a few more times to get his team down field, but to no avail.


The Bengals will reload their weapons as they prepare to go to the Super Bowl in two weeks.

[dophin26]

It was over before it began.


The San Francisco 49ers took the LA Rams out of their running game the moment the got on the field and by halftime the game was done. The first four possessions for the Niners looked like this:


80 yards to Jerry Rice, 7-0 San Fran. (1 play)


38 yards to Jerry Rice, 14-0 San Fran. (3 plays)


24 yards to Jerry Rice, 21-0 San Fran. (5 plays)


53 yards to Jerry Rice, 28-0 San Fran. (3 plays)… and that was before halftime.


In the second half, a 60 yard pass to Aaron Cox set up a quick TD, but San Francisco answered right back and the air was all but out of the Rams. They took to the passing game, but even reliable Henry Ellard was looking over his shoulder for the safeties and dropped ball after ball.


It was an embarrassing defeat for a team that looked like they had it all figured out. San Francisco, however, looked very sharp and will be the odds on favorite to win the Super Bowl. The Bengals had better play their best game to have any chance at a win.

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Personal note: This was easily the most thorough defeat I've ever experienced playing the cpu.

[dophin26]

* Correction: James Brooks had 2 receiving TDs.

Super Bowl Shocker!


No one gave Sam Wyche’s Bengals much of a chance in the Super Bowl this year. It seemed they weer all offense and no defense. On top of that, San Francisco appeared to match up with Cincinnati very well. The high flying passing game would be shut down by Ronnie Lott and company and the ground game tandem of Ickey Woods and James Brooks would get shut down by Romanowski, Haley and crew. And if anyone was watching last week, they saw what Jerry Rice was able to do to the Rams secondary, regarded as one of the better backfields in the league. Cincinnati would prove you never can tell whats going to happen.


The Bengals took the opening kickoff and used just eight plays to sprint down the field to a TD. Boomer Esiason hit TE Rodney Holman for 22 yards on one big play. Holman has been silent most of the playoffs. Ickey Woods was the recipient of the other big pass play. He snagged a floater on the sideline over the outstretched hands of Bill Romanowski and sped up the field for 47 yards. 7-0 Bengals.


Three and out gave the ball back to Cincinnati and they again drove downfield for a score, this time on a 14 yard pass to James Brooks out of the backfield. 14-0 Cincy.


A second three and out allowed the Bengals to again drive the length of the field as Romanowski missed a sure tackle and allowed Brooks to race 47 yards to paydirt. It was clear the Bengals had done their homework. They stayed away from Charles Haley on the short passes and rarely threw anywhere close to Ronnie Lott. The combination worked very well as the two were effectively taken out of the game plan in the first half. The score midway through the second quarter was 21-0 and would remain that way.


In the third, the 49ers picked right back up where they had left off. Montana had managed only 9 yards passing, seemingly ignoring Jerry Rice most of the half and finding excellent coverage on him when he did go that direction. The Niners went three and out once again and the Bengals drove into field goal range before Lott nailed Ickey Woods for negative yardage on a swing pass, bringing up a fourth down. Jim Breech extended the lead to 24-0 at that point.


Montana finally got things together midway through the third quarter. Using just 6 plays, he drove the 49ers down for their first score, hitting Rice on a streak for 41 yards and a TD. 24-7 Bengals.


On 3 ^rd and 3, Esiason was sacked and the Bengals were forced to punt right away. The tide seemed to be turning. San Fran got the ball and drove to the Bengals’ 27, but Skip McClendon charged through and sacked Montana on a critical third down, forcing a punt. That put a stop to the momentum and helped seal a win.


San Francisco had one more very nice, long drive that resulted in a field goal, but it was matched after an onside kick was returned pretty deep and Breech skirted in the last points of the game. The Bengals, winners of their division, finally made the Super Bowl run they had been dreaming of since the days of Ken Anderson.