‘89 Bengals 20, ‘81 Steelers 14

SUMMARY:  On a hot and rainy miserable day in the Queen city the Bengals hoped to ride the back of their talented FB Ickey Woods to victory vs their arch rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers.

1st QTR:  The opening stanza went according to plan as Woods touched the ball 8 times in a 9 play drive that culminated in a 18 yard FG by Jim Breech.  Woods would dice and slice his way for a few yards here and there, but the big play would be a 46 yard play action pass from Boomer Esiason to Tim McGee that got the Bengals down to the Steeler 4.  The Steelers were able to move the ball to almost mid field, but were forced to punt when Terry Bradshaw missed a quick short pass on 3rd down to Lynn Swann.  Cincy went 3 and out and had to punt from their own 26.  Steeler return guy Jim Smith Jr. cut through the kick coverage for a big 11 yard return to the Steeler 40.  Unfortunately for the Steelers the slipper wet ball popped out and Rickey Dixon recovered it for Cincy.  After a terrible face mask penalty was called the Bengals were in great shape on the Steeler 25.  Once again Esiason caught the Steel Curtain D in a run formation and hit Eddie Brown for an easy 25 yard score to make it 10-0.

2nd QTR:  Sidney Thornton went 31 yards on a flare pass and Franco Harris did the same for 16 yards prior to the end of the 1st quarter to put the Steelers on Cincy's 48 to start the 2nd quarter.  Harris would then follow with 3 key runs totally 14 yards to move the ball to the Bengal 22 where Bradshaw hit old favorite John Stallworth for 9 yards and a 1st down on the 10.  On the next play Bradshaw was under pressure and dumped a flare pass to Frank Pollard who strolled into the end zone untouched to make it 10-7.  Cincy would go 3 and out on their next drive, which setup great field position for Pittsburgh, who started on their own 41.  Despite 3 penalties the Steelers still had no trouble moving the ball until their drive stalled on the Bengal 29.  Rather than allow David Trout the opportunity to kick a FG that was somewhat out of his range Bradshaw attempted to hit Swann for the 4 yards needed.  Thanks to the combination of wind and rain the pass floated out of Bradshaw's hands and wound up rolling on the Riverfront stadium turf.  Having lost Ickey Woods to what looks to be a season ending injury early in the 2nd quarter the Bengals began to go to plan "B":  Give the ball to James Brooks.  On this drive, which started on their own 33 Brooks did not instill one bit of confidence in his ability to hold on to the football.  After Boomer hit Mike Martin for a quick 7 yard hitch, Brooks too a hand off and ran 3 yards and coughed the ball up.  Thankfully for Cincy Bruce Kozerski fell on it and no harm was done.  Two plays later Brooks took a 3rd down draw play and turned a 3rd and a long 7 into a 34 yard run down to the Steeler 34 yard line.  Boomer hit McGee for 9 yards then gave Brooks the ball inside the red zone.  Brooks got and easy 6 yards, then fought for the 7th and lost the ball.  Bob Kohrs recovered for the Steelers on their own 7 to save Pittsburgh big time.  That would do it for the half as Bradshaw and company were content to run the clock out.

3rd QTR:  The Steelers would receive the ball to open the half and start out on their own 30.  Franco Harris was stuffed for a 1 yard loss on the first play from scrimmage to start the half, but responded like a champ by gaining 9 yards on the following play.  Bradshaw looked off Harris and gave it to Sidney Thornton, who gained 3 yards and an easy first down, until the pile moved and Kevin Walker came up with the ball for the Bengals on the Steeler 41.  The Steel Curtain defense held tight and forced the Bengals to punt.  Pittsburgh was pinned down on their 4 and went 3 and out, which allowed Cincy to start on the Steeler 38.  Some modest gains resulted in a missed 41 yard FG attempt by Jim Breech.  On the following play Bradshaw hit Stallworth in stride for 18 yards, but Cincy clobbered the Steeler receiver from behind and the ball popped out right into the waiting arms of Barney Bussey.  Facing a 3rd and 7 from the Steeler 39 Esiason called another draw to James Brooks, who took it 39 yards to the house to give the Bengals a 17-7 lead.  Credit Brooks with a fantastic run, because the Steeler defense was setup and waiting for him.  Brooks just outskilled the D.  After a flagrant facemask call on the first play of the drive the Steelers were easily into Bengal territory on their 48.  Back to back passes by Bradshaw to Stallworth (18 yards) and Bennine Cunningham (10 yards) gave them a 1st and goal on the 3.  A 1 yard loss by Frank Pollard on a outside run and a no gain dump pass to Harris ended the quarter with the Steelers facing 3rd and goal from the 4.

4th QTR:  A medium pass to Stallworth gained just 2 yards and looked to put the Steelers in a 4th and goal situation.  A yellow hankie near the feet of Bradshaw resulted in a roughing the passer call that would move the ball to the 1 and give Pittsburgh a new set of downs.  A sure fire score awaited the visiting team, but in professional football nothing is a sure thing.  Instead Russell Davis took a handoff and saw nothing, then pivoted and ran backward hoping to find an opening.  Reggie Williams saw his opening and punched the ball out from behind then fell on it himself.  Cincy dodged a huge bullet and Pittsburgh looked to have blown a huge opportunity.  The next 3 series saw both teams play conservative ball and go three and out.  With 10 minutes remaining in the game Bradshaw began to move his troops starting on his own 26.  A few yards here and a few yards there setup the big play where he hit Smith for 39 yards on a play that would have been a TD if it were not for the efforts of Solomon Wilcots to push Smith out at the 2.  Wilcots play would only prolong the agony as Franco Harris smashed up the middle for a 2 yard TD plunge on the next play to make it 17-14 with 6:34 left to play.  Starting on their own 38 the Bengals had two options:  play conservatively and let the defense handle it or play to win and chew up clock.  The brash Esiason chose the latter and after 5 consecutive runs saw himself facing a 3rd and 2 on the Steeler 48 with 3:33 left to play.  Most QB's would have gone back to the run and would have been content to  hope for the 1st down or rely on the defense to hold after a punt.  Esiason is not your normal QB.  His elevated confidence level, which at time borders on arrogance, forces him to take bold maneuvers such as a play action fake and and a 12 yard hitch to Eddie Brown.  Two plays later he would go to the air again and hit Craig Taylor for 19 yards on a perfectly executed screen play.  At this point the coaching staff reigned in the lefty from Long Island and commanded he just give the ball to his backs and kill clock.  With 21 seconds left to go Cincy had the ball on the Steeler 3 and Jim Breech nailed a 20 yard chip shot to make it 20-17.  Pittsburgh would get the ball back with virtually no time (10 seconds) left on the clock.  A desperation heave from Bradshaw to Stallworth fell harmlessly to the wet carpet as the final gun sounded.