Cincinnati Bengals playoff history notes part 1

The Cincinnati Bengals played in and lost the first NFL divisional round game with the AFC/NFC configuration in 1970.

Cincy lost its first three playoff games, (all divisional round games), the first two under its great coach, Paul Brown and to the eventual Super Bowl champion (the then Baltimore Colts in 1970 and a great Miami Dolphins team in 1973).

They also lost to a fine Oakland Raiders team, covering the spread in defeat, in 1975. The next year Oakland won it all, giving John Madden, the vastly over rated Raiders’ coach his only title in his only Supe appearance.

Next in the playoffs in 1981, guided by Ken Anderson at quarterback, the Bengals won both the divisional round game and AFC title game at home. They lost to the great Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl. It was the first of 5 “S.F.” titles, the first four with Montana at quarterback in 9 seasons (1981-1989).

After losing to the New York Jets in an extra round of playoffs caused by the player’s strike in 1982 (now there is an extra round which has included 8 teams since 1990), the Bengals again rode home divisional round and AFC title game wins to make the Super Bowl.

Again, though they kept it close, covering the spread in defeat, Cincy lost to Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers. It was the third Montana/49ers title.

Joe Montana pictured above (note the 4 Super Bowl rings, one achieved with help from a running back named Bill Ring), and the 49ers denied the Bengals in two Super Bowls. Neither loss was a rout the first game was considered even and SF won by 5 points after building a (20-0) lead. My point is through the 1988 season and even 1990 which I will touch on in part 2, the Bengals were a more than respectable post-season team.