The 1988 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 21st year in professional football and its 19th with the National Football League (NFL).
After coming off a disappointing 1987 season, the Bengals tied for the best record in the NFL in 1988, secured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and won the AFC Championship by defeating the Buffalo Bills 21–10, but lost Super Bowl XXIII to the San Francisco 49ers 20–16.
The Bengals went 8–0 at home in 1988 and 4–4 on the road. The 1988 Bengals were featured in the NFL Films series The Missing Rings, being included as one of the five best teams in NFL history not to have won the Super Bowl. The Bengals would not play in the Super Bowl or AFC Championship again until the 2021 season.
Season summary During the strike shortened 1987 season, quarterback Boomer Esiason and head coach Sam Wyche had openly feuded, and the team finished with a miserable 4–11 record. Esiason and Wyche worked out their differences in the offseason. In 1988 Esiason ended up having the best season of his career en route to Super Bowl XXIII. During the regular season, he threw for 3,572 yards and 28 touchdown passes with only 14 interceptions, while also rushing for 248 yards and a touchdown on 43 carries. Esiason's performance made him the top rated quarterback in the league with a 97.4 passer rating and earned him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award.
Cincinnati had a number of offensive weapons, boasting 6 Pro Bowl selections. Wide receiver Eddie Brown was the top receiver on the team, with 54 receptions for 1,273 yards and 9 touchdowns, setting franchise records for most receiving yards in season, highest yards per catch average in a season (24.0) and most receiving yards in a single game (216 against the Pittsburgh Steelers). Wide receiver Tim McGee and Pro Bowl tight end Rodney Holman were also major threats, combining for 75 receptions, 1,213 yards, and 9 touchdowns.
Rookie fullback Ickey Woods was Cincinnati's top rusher with 1,066 yards and 15 touchdowns, while also catching 21 passes for 199 yards. Woods gained a lot of media attention with his "Ickey Shuffle", a dance routine he did in the end zone to celebrate his touchdowns. Multi-talented running back James Brooks was also a key contributor, gaining a total of 1,218 combined rushing and receiving yards and 14 touchdowns.
The Bengals' offensive line was led by such Pro Bowl players as right guard Max Montoya and left tackle Anthony Muñoz. Muñoz was named the NFL Offensive Lineman of the Year for the third time in his career, and was selected to play in the Pro Bowl for the 8th consecutive season. The Bengals' pioneering use of the Hurry-up offense was perfected that year, making it difficult for defenders to respond to plays and make proper substitutions. With all these weapons, Cincinnati's offense led the NFL in scoring (448 points), rushing yards (2,710), and total yards (6,302).
The Bengals defense ranked 17th in the league, allowing 5,556 yards and 329 points during the regular season. Cincinnati had a superb defensive line, led by Pro Bowl nose tackle Tim Krumrie, along with defensive ends Jim Skow (9.5 sacks), David Grant (5 sacks), and Jason Buck (6 sacks). Pro Bowl cornerback Eric Thomas and safety David Fulcher combined for 12 interceptions. The team ended up winning the AFC Central with a 12 – 4 record.
The Bengals would get off to a fast start, coming from behind to beat the Phoenix Cardinals 21–14, and then they would sweep a 2-week road trip in Pennsylvania, coming from behind to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 28–24 and the Pittsburgh Steelers 17–12 in weeks 2 and 3. The Bengals would then beat the Cleveland Browns at home 24–17 to start 4-0 for the first time since 1975. The Bengals would then thump the Raiders in Los Angeles 45–21 (the Bengals first road win against the Raiders in 9 tries), and then would beat the New York Jets 36–19 at home to start 6–0, tying the franchise best start to a season at the time. In week 7 the New England Patriots would provide the Bengals with their first loss of the season, 21–27. Boomer threw for 5 interceptions which was featured on Showtimes Inside the NFL season 10 episode 12.
In week 10, the Bengals destroyed the Pittsburgh Steelers 42–7 at home to set the records in the series for largest margin of victory and most points scored by one team in the series. It would also be the first of 3 straight season sweeps of the Steelers for the Bengals.
In week 14, the Bengals beat the Buffalo Bills 35–21, handing Buffalo only their second loss of the season. The Bills had come into the game with an 11–1 record and the overall best record in the NFL.
In the seasons final week, the Bengals came from behind to beat the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Washington Redskins, 20–17 in overtime to clinch the AFC Central and the 1 seed in the AFC. The game was won on a Jim Breech field goal.
Super Bowl XXIII
The AFC Champion Bengals were to play the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIII. However, they suffered a massive blow before the game was even played. On the evening of January 21, 1989, the night before the game, Stanley Wilson told the coaching staff that he had left his playbook in his hotel room before the final team meeting. When he was fifteen minutes late, his position coach, Jim Anderson, looked for Wilson. Anderson found Wilson crumpled on the bathroom floor of his hotel room with cocaine next to him. Later that night, he slipped away from a Bengal staffer who was watching him and got more cocaine. No one from the Bengals heard from him again until the day after the game. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, they had no choice but to leave Wilson off the roster, which may have contributed to their loss to San Francisco, in part due to the number of short yardage situations they faced throughout the game.
Tim Krumrie may perhaps be best known for suffering one of the most dramatic football injuries ever televised, a shattered leg during Super Bowl XXIII. Although it was reported at the time and widely believed that his foot caught in the grass, causing the break, a Cincinnati videographer had the best angle, and the breaks to Krumrie's leg occurred when San Francisco running back Roger Craig's knee smashed through both lower leg bones. Krumrie suffered two breaks in his tibia and another in his fibula.
Offseason
NFL draft
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 4 Phoenix Cardinals W 21–14 1–0 Riverfront Stadium Recap 2 September 11 at Philadelphia Eagles W 28–24 2–0 Veterans Stadium Recap 3 September 18 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 17–12 3–0 Three Rivers Stadium Recap 4 September 25 Cleveland Browns W 24–17 4–0 Riverfront Stadium Recap 5 October 2 at Los Angeles Raiders W 45–21 5–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Recap 6 October 9 New York Jets W 36–19 6–0 Riverfront Stadium Recap 7 October 16 at New England Patriots L 21–27 6–1 Sullivan Stadium Recap 8 October 23 Houston Oilers W 44–21 7–1 Riverfront Stadium Recap 9 October 30 at Cleveland Browns L 16–23 7–2 Cleveland Stadium Recap 10 November 6 Pittsburgh Steelers W 42–7 8–2 Riverfront Stadium Recap 11 November 13 at Kansas City Chiefs L 28–31 8–3 Arrowhead Stadium Recap 12 November 20 at Dallas Cowboys W 38–24 9–3 Texas Stadium Recap 13 November 27 Buffalo Bills W 35–21 10–3 Riverfront Stadium Recap 14 December 4 San Diego Chargers W 27–10 11–3 Riverfront Stadium Recap 15 December 11 at Houston Oilers L 6–41 11–4 Astrodome Recap 16 Washington Redskins W 20–17 12–4 Riverfront Stadium Recap
Game summaries
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Standings
Playoffs
Divisional
Seattle's defense completely shut down Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason, the NFL's top rated quarterback and MVP during the season, limiting him to just 7 of 19 completions for 108 yards. But they were unable to contain Cincinnati on the ground. The Bengals recorded 254 rushing yards (126 of them and a touchdown from fullback Ickey Woods), while holding the Seahawks to 22.
Cincinnati jumped to a 21–0 halftime lead with Woods' score and two from running back Stanley Wilson. Meanwhile, the Seahawks could only manage 47 total yards in the first half. But after a scoreless third quarter, Seattle attempted a comeback. First, quarterback Dave Krieg threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to John L. Williams, who finished the game with 11 receptions for 137 yards. Then Krieg scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak. However, Norm Johnson missed the extra point attempt and Seattle was unable to score again.
AFC Championship
A stout defense that forced three interceptions while allowing just 45 rushing yards and 136 passing yards combined with a tremendous offense that held the ball for 39 minutes to deliver Cincinnati to the Super Bowl. Bills running back Thurman Thomas was held to just six yards on four carries, while quarterback Jim Kelly completed only 14-of-30 passes for 161 yards and 1 touchdown, with 3 interceptions. Just like their previous game, the Bengals didn't get much of a performance from NFL MVP Boomer Esiason, who completed only 11-of-20 passes for 94 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions. But once again, their running game was able to pick up the slack, gaining 175 yards on the ground, with fullback Ickey Woods running for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
Cincinnati took a 7–0 lead in the first quarter after defensive back Eric Thomas' interception set up Woods' one-yard touchdown. Kelly led the Bills back with four consecutive completions, the last one a nine-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andre Reed. Then after forcing a punt, Buffalo drove to the Bengals 26-yard line, only to have Scott Norwood miss a 43-yard field goal attempt. Following another punt, Kelly was intercepted again, this time by defensive back Lewis Billups, and the Bengals capitalized with running back James Brooks' ten-yard touchdown reception from Esiason. Later on, Bills defensive back Mark Kelso intercepted a pass from Esiason and returned it 25 yards, setting up a 39-yard field goal by Norwood to cut the Bills deficit to 14–10 by halftime.
The Bengals took over the game in the second half, forcing Buffalo to start all of their drives from inside their own 23-yard line and holding them to 53 yards, two first downs, and zero points. Late in the third quarter, Bengals running back Stanley Wilson gained six yards on a fake punt attempt, and Cincinnati drove to score on Woods' second touchdown of the game, increasing their lead to 21–10. The Bills responded with a drive into Bengals territory, but safety David Fulcher picked off a desperate fourth down pass from Kelly in the end zone.
This was the last time the Bengals defeated the Bills until Week 4 of the 2011 season. The Bills would go on to win ten straight against them.
Super Bowl
The game started out with devastating injuries on both sides. On the third play of the game, 49ers tackle Steve Wallace was taken off the field with a broken ankle. Later on, Bengals defensive lineman Tim Krumrie twisted his ankle nearly 180 degrees, shattering two bones in his left leg. Although it was reported at the time and widely believed that his foot caught in the grass, causing the break, a Cincinnati videographer had the best angle, and the breaks to Krumrie's leg occurred when San Francisco running back Roger Craig's knee smashed through both lower leg bones. Krumrie suffered two breaks in his tibia and another in his fibula.