Menu

1989 NFL

A Sour Ending For The 1989 Houston Oilers

, , , , ,

The 1989 Houston Oilers came into the season looking for more. In both 1987 and 1988, they made the postseason and advanced to the divisional round. The Oilers had clearly arrived as a playoff contender under the coaching regime of Jerry Glanville. Now it was time for more—like a division championship and deeper advancement into the playoffs. The ’89 Oilers were squarely in position to accomplish their goals…until a sudden and late fade ended the season and ended Glanville’s tenure.

Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon was the clear leader of a team that was built around its offensive firepower. Moon had a vintage Pro Bowl season in 1989. His 60 percent completion rate, 7.8 yards-per-attempt, 23 touchdown passes and 3 percent interception rate were all in the top eight among starting quarterbacks.

The Oilers of this era were known for their “Run-And-Shoot” offense, the first of its kind to spread the field with four different receivers. With Moon pulling the trigger, all four had big years—Drew Hill, Earnest Givins, Curtis Duncan and Haywood Jeffires all averaged 13-14 yards per catch and all shared the wealth that Moon distributed.

Running the ball wasn’t a priority, but Houston had good options. Alonzo Highsmith and Allen Pinkett each averaged better than a four yards a pop. Lorenzo White was another capable back. All three shared the load. Pinkett was also a threat in the passing game, catching 31 balls.

The interior of the offensive line was as good as it gets. Two future Hall of Famers held down the guard spots and both were in their prime in 1989. Mike Munchak made the Pro Bowl and Bruce Matthews was even better, earning recognition as 1st-team All-NFL.

All told, the offense ranked seventh in the league in points scored. And it was necessary, because the defense was a sieve.

Ray Childress was a good defensive tackle, recording 8 ½ sacks. Houston was breaking in a rookie strong safety, Bubba McDowell, who would turn out to be pretty good. But the Oilers as a whole ranked 26th in points allowed in what was then a 28-team NFL. They weren’t going to win games by stopping anyone, something that became painfully clear in the season’s decisive moments.

A high-profile season opener came at Minnesota. The Vikings were a team similar to the Oilers, one that had come into their own in 1987 and was now looking for the next step. Like the Oilers, the Vikings would also come up short, but they would still make the playoffs this season and they certainly looked the part of a Super Bowl contender today. Houston was outrushed 155-70. Moon only threw for 69 yards. The Oilers lost the turnover battle 3-zip. The final was an embarrassing 38-7 loss.

Houston went on to play the subpar San Diego Chargers on the road and turned things around. They got the running game going, to the tune of a 132-41 edge in rush yardage. Moon went 21/35 for 235 yards. They won the turnover battle 5-zip. The Oilers took a 34-14 lead and then held on to win 34-27.

That set up another high-profile game, this one at home against Buffalo. The Bills had reached the AFC Championship Game the previous year, would win their division again this season and were on the verge of becoming a conference dynasty. Moon and Buffalo counterpart Jim Kelly put on a passing show.

Both Hall of Fame QBs threw for over 300 yards. Kelly did it by frequently targeting Andre Reed. Moon did it by spreading the ball all over. The Oilers rallied from 27-10 down to take a 38-34 lead in the fourth quarter.  The game eventually went overtime, tied at 41-41 before a Buffalo touchdown won it. A thrilling home opener ended on a disappointing note.

Houston welcomed a Miami Dolphins team that would stay on the playoff fringe throughout the year. And for the first time this season, the Oilers played a complete football game. They ran for nearly 200 yards. Moon went 19/23 for 254 yards with no mistakes. The defense completely dominated. The only points the Oilers allowed came on a kickoff return for a touchdown late in what ended as a 39-7 rout.

But Houston could not build on the success. They went up to New England and lost 23-13 to a bad team, thanks to five turnovers and a spotty performance from Moon. Houston was 2-3 and on their way to visit what looked like a good Chicago Bears team.

The Bears were one of the league’s perennial contenders under Mike Ditka and were off to a 4-1 start. The Oilers trailed 28-19 in the fourth quarter. Then Moon opened up. Playing against a traditionally good defense on the road, Moon threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes. Hill caught five balls for 128 yards. Houston won 33-28. The game started Chicago spiraling toward a surprising collapse. The Oilers were just happy to be back to .500.

Pittsburgh, a division rival, came into the old Astrodome and Houston delivered a 27-0 beatdown behind 132 rushing  yards and three TD passes from Moon. But a road trip to another division rival in Cleveland didn’t go as well. Even though an early Moon-to-Jeffires touchdown pass keyed a 10-0 lead, the defense allowed a couple of long TD passes. A game where the Oilers generally outplayed the Browns ended up as a 28-17 loss.

We were now halfway through this season that was supposed to be a springboard to bigger things. And the Oilers were only 4-4.

This might be a good spot to step back and remind younger readers that the alignment of the NFL prior to 2002 was only three divisions per conference. The Oilers shared the AFC Central with the Steelers, Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. All four teams would be contenders this season. And as hard as it might be for a younger generation to grasp, Cincinnati was coming off a Super Bowl season and Cleveland was one of the AFC’s most consistent teams.

Furthermore, prior to 1990, only five teams per conference made the playoffs. So if Houston could not win what was shaping up as a competitive AFC Central race, there were only two wild-card berths available.

In short, the Oilers needed to get their act together. They fell behind mediocre Detroit 24-14 at home, thanks to sloppy play that resulted in ten penalties. But Moon covered for a lot of mistakes. On this day, he went 30/38 for 345 yards. He threw second-half TD passes to Givins and Hill, then ran for another. Houston pulled out a 35-31 win.

That set up a Monday Night visit from Cincinnati. The game would be a classic. The Oilers recovered a fumble in the end zone early in the game. They led 16-14 in the second half. The leaky defense again allowed a long touchdown pass. Moon answered right back, leading a drive that ended with a TD pass of his own. The Bengals got a field goal to get the lead. Moon answered again, leading a drive that ended with a game-winning field goal. Houston had a thrilling 26-24 win.

Now they had some momentum, but could they keep it going on a short week, facing another playoff contender in the Los Angeles Raiders? The answer was yes. Playing for both the home crowd and the late Sunday afternoon national TV audience, the Oilers played a terrific all-around game and won 23-7.

At 7-4, Houston went on to visit Kansas City. The Chiefs were in their first year under Marty Schottenheimer and on the fringes of wild-card contention. Today, the Oilers made them look like a Super Bowl team. They committed 16 penalties, Moon was horrible and the end result was a 34-0 debacle.

We were headed into the season’s final quarter. Houston’s 7-5 record had them a half-game behind Cleveland, who was 7-4-1. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati were both 6-6. In the wild-card picture, the Oilers and Dolphins, who were also 7-5, held the lead for the two spots. But the Raiders, Colts and Chiefs all joined the AFC Central in giving chase.

Furthermore, Week 13 was an AFC Central-fest. The Oilers were visiting the Steelers, while the Browns and Bengals squared off. Houston took care of their business. After spotting Pittsburgh a 10-0 lead, Moon went to work. He threw an 18-yard TD pass to Duncan and a 16-yard scoring pass to Hill. McDowell recorded a sack for a safety.

Holding on to a 16-13 lead, the defense came up with a big red zone stop, forcing the Steelers to settle for an 18-yard field goal. The game was tied, but it could have easily been worse. Moon led one more touchdown drive that pulled out the 23-16 road win. Meanwhile, Cincinnati beat Cleveland. Houston had the lead in the AFC Central.

The Oilers hosted a bad Tampa Bay team and jumped out to 20-3 lead by the first quarter, then held on for a 20-17 win. Cleveland lost again. So did Cincinnati. Houston was now 9-5. Cleveland was 7-6-1, while Pittsburgh and Cincinnati were 7-7. With two weeks to go, the Oilers had complete command of the AFC Central.

A road trip to play the Bengals was up next. It was no secret that Glanville and Cincinnati head coach Sam Wyche absolutely loathed each other. That made the possibility of clinching the franchise’s first-ever division title in old Riverfront Stadium more appealing…and what actually happened all the more humiliating. The Oilers were down 21-0 after the first quarter…31-0 at half…52-0 after three quarters…and lost 61-7.

Now, everything was up for grabs heading into the final week of the season that would be played over December 23-25. Here’s the scenario—Houston was hosting Cleveland on a Saturday night game that would kick off the season finales. This was winner-take-all for the division title. The AFC Central champ would also be the 2-seed in the playoffs and get the divisional round game at home. Simply taking care of business in the Astrodome would get the Oilers to the AFC Championship Game.

But if they lost…then all bets were off. Houston could not even be assured of a playoff berth if they didn’t win this game.

And they didn’t come out like a team that had a lot on the line, digging a 17-3 hole. Moon, never to be counted out, rallied with a nine-yard TD pass to Hill. A Houston field goal cut the lead to 17-13. Moon stepped up and threw another TD pass to Hill, this one from 27 yards. Hill would finish the game with 10 catches for 141 yards. But it wasn’t enough. Moon was also sacked five times and a late Browns drive produced the decisive touchdown in a 24-20 loss.

Now there was nothing to do but wait. The Colts and Bengals held the inside track to the two wild-card spots. If either one lost, Houston was in. Indianapolis was playing mediocre New Orleans on Sunday, but Monday Night offered reason for hope—Cincinnati had to go to Minnesota, where the Vikings were also playing with win-or-go-home stakes.

The tension ended early when the Colts were shockingly flat and got leveled 41-6. The Oilers were at least back in the playoffs. When the Bengals lost to the Vikings, Houston got the wild-card game at home. And on top of it all, it was the Steelers—whom the Oilers had already beaten twice, that snuck into the last playoff berth through the backdoor.

So here we were again. Houston still had a chance to reclaim their momentum if they just won a home playoff game as a 6 ½ point favorite. But it was a virtual repeat of the Cleveland game. The Oilers were flat early and trailed 16-9. Moon rallied and threw two touchdown passes, this time to Givins and gave his team a 23-16 lead. The defense gave it back by allowing a late drive that tied it up. Houston lost this one in overtime 26-23.

It was a terribly bitter end to the season. Not only had the Oilers missed out on their preseason goals, but it was three straight losses to divisional rivals—one of them a colossal embarrassment and two heartbreaks as a home favorite that drove the knife in.

The front office responded by firing Glanville and hiring Jack Pardee. The move didn’t hurt—Houston kept producing playoff teams for four more years. But it only made things marginally better. While the Oilers under Pardee did win a couple division titles, they never did get past the second round of the playoffs.

The AFC East Title Run Of The 1989 Buffalo Bills

, , , , ,

The Buffalo Bills took a step backward in 1989—after winning 12 games in a breakout year under head coach Marv Levy and quarterback Jim Kelly in 1988, the Bills slipped to 9-7. But that was still good enough to win the AFC East and in retrospect, was important in that it kept the franchise moving forward to what would be its greatest heights. Here are the key highs and lows of the 1989 Buffalo Bills…

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

*An offense that was the third-best in the NFL was top-heavy reliant on running back Thurman Thomas, a 1,200-yard rusher who also caught 60 passes, along with wide receiver Andre Reed, who caught 88 balls. While Kelly was good and made big plays, he was also mistake-prone and its Thomas and Reed—who each made the Pro Bowl—that deserve the bulk of the credit.

*The offensive front was solid, with a Pro Bowl center in Kent Hull and emerging offensive tackles in Wil Wolford and Howard Ballard. Defensively, the Bills could be leaky at times, ranking 14th in a 28-team league in points allowed. But they had playmakers, notably Bruce Smith at defensive end, Cornelius Bennett and Darryl Talley at outside linebacker and free safety Mark Kelso, who picked off six passes .

*Buffalo hosted Denver for Monday Night Football in Week 2 and it proved to be an omen for how the AFC race would shake out. Kelly was intercepted three times. The defense was pounded for over 200 rush yards. The Broncos won 28-14 in a game where the Bills were a (-6.5) favorite. It foreshadowed that John Elway’s team, rather than Kelly’s, would be the one stepping up to make a run to the Super Bowl.

*The Bills still played steady football for the first three quarters of the season. Key highlights were early wins over playoff-bound teams in the Houston Oilers and Los Angeles Rams. In Houston, Kelly outgunned Warren Moon in a wild 47-41 overtime game that ended with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Reed. Against the Rams, at home on Monday Night, Kelly was hurt and Frank Reich was in. Thomas stepped up with 172 all-purpose yards, the rush defense collared LA’s Greg Bell and the result was a 23-20 win.

*Those high points were balanced off by aggravating losses at Indianapolis and Atlanta. At Indy, the Bills turned the ball over six times, were outrushed 153-71 and lost 37-14. The Falcon loss was 30-28 on a last-second field goal, but inexcusable, given that Atlanta was one of the NFL’s worst teams in 1989.

*Buffalo still got their record to 8-4 after beating Cincinnati 24-7 on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, behind a dominating ground attack. The Bengals had beat the Bills the previous year’s AFC Championship Game and they ended up narrowly missing the playoffs this season. Small payback to be sure, but payback nonetheless.

*With the AFC East firmly in their grasp and the path to the 2-seed in the AFC behind Denver all clear, Buffalo fell apart and lost three in a row. The last of the three, to the eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers was to be expected. Losing at home to a non-playoff team in Seattle on Monday Night was not. Nor was Kelly throwing three interceptions in a 22-19 home loss to New Orleans, another non-playoff team.

*Buffalo still had a hole card—they held the tiebreakers in a race where they, the Colts (an AFC East team prior to 2002) and the Dolphins were all 8-7 and Buffalo had a game with the woeful New York Jets on deck. The Bills righted the ship on a Saturday afternoon in the Meadowlands, as Thomas and fullback Larry Kinnebrew pounded out yards amidst 18mph winds and Buffalo coasted to a 37-0 win.

*One week later, on another early Saturday afternoon kick in the Northeast, with weather playing a role, the season ended in heartbreak. Buffalo traveled to Cleveland where the field was cold and icy. Kelly played one of his best games of the year, completing 28/54 passes for 405 yards and four touchdowns. Thomas caught 13 of those passes for 150 yards.

But a missed extra point had the Bills down 34-30 instead of being within a field goal when they made their final drive. Running back Ronnie Harmon had the winning touchdown pass in his grasp and dropped it. On the next play, Kelly was intercepted in the end zone. The season was over.

The Super Bowl expectations the 1989 NFL season began with weren’t fulfilled in Buffalo. But the Bills continued to establish that they were the new sheriff in town when it came to the AFC East. And the biggest breakthrough was immediately ahead—in 1990, Buffalo made it to the first of what remains a historic run of four straight Super Bowls.

The 1989 Los Angeles Rams Reach The NFC Championship Game

, , , , ,

The John Robinson era produced a steady string of playoff teams and also a team that could take fans on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. The 1989 Los Angeles Rams fit that to a tee—but some of the best highs came at the end and made this a season to remember.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

Two years after trading the great running back Eric Dickerson to Indianapolis, the Rams were recast as a team that could throw the football. Jim Everett was in his fourth year at quarterback and emerging as a top big-play passer. He averaged a healthy 8.3 yards-per-attempt and threw 29 touchdowns.

Henry Ellard and Flipper Anderson each racked up over 1,000 yards receiving, with Ellard making the Pro Bowl. Tight end Pete Holohan, along Buford McGee and Robert Delpino were pass-catching threats out of the backfield.

Robinson was known for his running backs though, first in college at USC, then with Dickerson. Greg Bell was the latest and he rolled up over 1,100 yards behind an offensive line with three Pro Bowlers in Tom Newberry, Doug Smith and 35-year-old Jackie Slater.

Defense was a problem, at least beyond outside linebacker Kevin Greene and corner Jerry Gray. They ranked 17th in the league in points allowed. But with the offense being the second-best in the NFL, Los Angeles had enough to win.

THE 5-0 START

The Rams won their first five games, with the highlight coming Week 4 in San Francisco. The 49ers were the defending Super Bowl champions, with Joe Montana behind center. Los Angeles played its best defensive game of the year.

Four times San Francisco got close and had to settle for field goals. The Rams still trailed 12-10 with three minutes to go when they forced a turnover. Everett drove his team for a 26-yard field goal stole a 13-12 win.

Other wins included a pair over the lowly Atlanta (the Falcons were in the NFC West prior to 2002) and Los Angeles also knocked off Indy and their old friend Dickerson, 31-17.

A 41-38 home win over Green Bay didn’t seem notable at the time, except the Rams nearly suffered the embarrassment of blowing a 38-7 lead. The Packers were mostly irrelevant in this time period. But the win loomed large before the season was over.

FOUR STRAIGHT LOSSES

Los Angeles traveled to Buffalo for Monday Night Football. The Bills were fresh off an AFC Championship Game appearance and made the playoffs again this year. The Rams were in position to win—Buffalo starting quarterback Jim Kelly was out and L.A. led 20-16 in the fourth quarter. But they couldn’t run the ball, with Bell held to 44 yards and backup quarterback Frank Reich beat them 23-20.

The loss started a tailspin. Bell was shut down again at home against New Orleans as the Rams lost 40-21. Everett played poorly in Chicago in a 20-10 loss. The season hit its low point in a bizarre game at Minnesota.

Los Angeles took the art of coughing up yardage between the 20-yard lines, but then stiffening to an extreme. The Vikings kicked seven field goals. The game went to overtime tied 21-21. The Rams got a punt blocked out of the end zone and managed to lose a game 23-21 without giving up a touchdown.

RESURGENCE

A home game with the New York Giants, who were en route to an NFC East title, loomed as must-win. Los Angeles dominated in the trenches, outrushing New York 150-6. Leading 10-3 in the second quarter, Everett hit Aaron Cox on a 51-yard touchdown strike and then a tossed a 21-yard scoring pass to Anderson. The rout was on and the final was 31-10.

That started a four-game win streak against a softer part of the schedule. A win in New Orleans—another team that was in the NFC West prior to 2002—was historic.

Flipper Anderson racked up 336 receiving yards, a single-game record that still stands. The Rams won 20-17 in overtime. Their record back up to 9-4 they still had an outside shot at catching the 49ers for the NFC West crown.

MONDAY NIGHT HEARTBREAK

Los Angeles was two games back, but if they could beat the 49ers on Monday Night Football, it would mean a sweep of the season series and the race would be on in the final two weeks.

The Rams jumped on top early. Bell ran three yards for an early touchdown and Everett flipped a four-yard TD pass to tight end Damone Johnson. The lead hit 17-0.

Then Montana hit John Taylor on a 92-yard touchdown pass. The 49ers were within 17-10 at the half. Not to worry—Everett hit McGee with a third-quarter touchdown pass and led another drive for a short field goal. The margin went back to 27-10.

But in the fourth quarter Montana tossed three touchdown passes. Worse, the Rams allowed another catch-and-run TD to Taylor of 90-plus yards. The result was a devastating 30-27 loss.

Los Angeles was still in a three-team dogfight for two wild-card spots, including the Eagles and Packers. The Rams needed to beat a terrible New York Jets team and they did, 38-14. L.A. still controlled their playoff destiny in the season finale.

ROAD TRIPS EAST

The finale at mediocre New England was in temperatures that were (-4) degrees with the windchill, Los Angeles’ veteran offensive front got down to business.

Bell pounded out 210 yards. The Patriots kept it close, but Bell’s four-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter sealed a 24-20 win. Los Angeles was in the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years under Robinson.

Another trip to the chilly East Coast awaited for the wild-card game. The temperatures in Philadelphia weren’t as cold—34 degrees. But it was wet and the Rams again got physical. Bell rushed for 124 yards and Everett threw touchdown passes on the first two drives of the game. The defense made it stand up in 21-7 win.

Had enough of flying cross-country? The Rams hadn’t. They got back on the plane to the Meadowlands to face the Giants in the divisional round. The weather wasn’t intolerable and Everett threw for 315 yards and overcame the defense’s difficulty stopping New York rusher Ottis Anderson. The game went to overtime 13-13.

The Rams won the coin toss and Everett delivered—one pass to Anderson produced an interference penalty that got Los Angeles to the 30-yard line. Another pass to Anderson sealed the deal with a touchdown that sent Los Angeles to the NFC Championship Game.

THE END IN CANDLESTICK

John Robinson made the NFC title game twice in his tenure with the Rams. It was his misfortune to play two teams in the running for the mantle of greatest of all-time—the 1985 Chicago Bears and the 1989 San Francisco 49ers. The Rams led this game 3-0 after a quarter, but the roof fell in after that in a 30-3 loss.

This was the last hurrah for the Robinson era—in fact for the first era that the Rams franchise was in Los Angeles. They didn’t get back to the postseason until the team had moved to St. Louis. The memories of the toughness the 1989 Rams showed in consistently going across the country to the East Coast to get must-win games have had to last a long time.

1989 Kansas City Chiefs: The Schottenheimer Era Begins

, , , , ,

The 1989 Kansas City Chiefs began the Marty Schottenheimer Era of franchise history. The Chiefs had been an irrelevant franchise for nearly two decades, with only a lone playoff appearance in 1986 to show for their efforts in that timeframe. Schottenheimer’s first team established a clear team identity, nearly snuck into the playoffs and set the tone for an eight-year run of success.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

Defense was the calling card. The secondary was already one of the league’s best. Albert Lewis was a first-team All-NFL corner while Kevin Ross was a Pro Bowler on the other side. Deron Cherry at safety was coming off a run of six straight Pro Bowl years. The defensive front included ends Neil Smith and Leonard Griffin who could get pressure off the edge in a four-man front.

Furthermore, the Chiefs used the fourth overall pick in the draft on Derrick Thomas, an outside linebacker from Alabama. Thomas won Defensive Rookie of the Year, ended up in the Hall of Fame and was the focal point of the Kansas City defense until his untimely death in an offseason car accident in February of 2000.

The Chiefs ranked eighth in the NFL in points allowed and covered for a below average offense. Steve DeBerg was the primary quarterback at age 35. But “Marty-Ball” as developed in Cleveland in the previous five years and would come to be known as here, was more about the running game. And the Chiefs had one of the best in their backfield.

Christian Okoye was brute strength personified, a physical specimen who was a freakish combination of size, speed and strength. In 1989, despite a mediocre offensive line, Okoye ran for nearly 1,500 yards, won the rushing title and made 1st-team All-Pro.

A FAMILIAR FIRST HALF

For the first half of the schedule, the 1989 edition of the Kansas City Chiefs looked a lot like their recent predecessors. The Chiefs played four noteworthy opponents—Denver (eventual AFC champ), Cincinnati (defending AFC champ), Pittsburgh (playoff team) and two games against the Los Angeles Raiders (contended to the final week of the season). Kansas City split with the Raiders and lost the other three.

Worse, the Chiefs lost decisively in Week 3 at San Diego. The Chargers were a bad team and a 21-6 loss didn’t suggest Marty was going to change much, at least not quickly. Kansas City did get a road win at mediocre Seattle and took advantage of a home date with the hideous Dallas Cowboys to keep their overall record a respectable 3-5 at the halfway point of the season.

SIGNS OF LIFE

Signs of life started to show when Seattle made its return trip to Kansas City (prior to the realignment of 2002 the Seahawks were in the AFC West). Okoye ran for 126 yards while the defense shut down the Seattle backfield of Curt Warner and John L. Williams in a 20-10 win.

Kansas City lost again to Denver, this time at home, but the improvement from the two-touchdown defeat of Week 1 was striking. Okoye missed the game with a thigh bruise and the Chiefs allowed a defensive touchdown. They still kept John Elway under wraps and were tied 13-13 late in the game before Elway flipped a shovel pass to Steve Sewell that gained thirty yards and set up the winning field goal.

Okoye came back for Marty’s return to Cleveland the following week. The Browns would extend the winning Schottenheimer had given them one year past his departure and they reached another AFC Championship Game in 1989. Kansas City fought them to a draw. In a sloppy game marked by eight combined turnovers and 22 combined penalties, it ended 10-10.

The Chiefs were still 4-6-1, but the win over Seattle combined with excellent fights given to the AFC’s two best teams in Denver and Cleveland, gave the people of Kansas City a glimmer of hope.

STRETCH DRIVE SURGE

The Houston Oilers were on their way to the playoffs when they came to Kansas City on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. If the previous three weeks had shown a flicker of life, the flame now burst into full view. The Chiefs shut down future Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon, holding him to 99 yards passing. Griffin finished with 2 ½ sacks. Wide receiver Stephon Paige caught seven balls for 114 yards and the result was a shocking 34-0 blowout.

Okoye pounded away against Miami, going for 148 yards in a 26-21 win. The Chiefs were now at .500. While the Broncos had pulled away from the rest of the AFC West, the remainder of the AFC playoff picture was a muddle mess. Kansas City had a shot.

Two surging upstarts met in Lambeau Field, as the Chiefs visited the surprising Packers. It was Kansas City who kept it going. The defense shut down the great wide receiver Sterling Sharpe. DeBerg played one of his best games of the season, going 15/19 for 203 yards. Okoye muscled his way to 131 more yards and KC had another surprisingly easy win, this one 21-3.

The playoffs were firmly in sight as they hosted the Chargers. But they lost 20-13, as San Diego’s Marion Butts, rather than Okoye, was the big back who piled up yardage. Two losses to the worst team in the AFC West were too much to overcome.

The playoff race was still packed and the Chiefs had some hope in the final week. They knocked off the Dolphins 27-24 on a late Nick Lowery field goal amidst gusting winds in South Beach. But the previous night, Cleveland had defeated Houston, taking away the surest path Kansas City had to get in.

Ironically, it was Schottenheimer’s old team that kept him out of the playoffs this season. The playoffs expanded one year later to six teams per conference. It was a year too late for the 1989 Kansas City Chiefs, who were in the 6-spot in the AFC.

But the Chiefs had finished the season strong and could hope for better days ahead. And those days were coming, as they made the playoffs in seven of the next eight years and were as consistent a contender as any in the entire NFL.

The Dashed Hopes Of The 1989 Philadelphia Eagles

, , , , ,

Buddy Ryan looked like he had the Philadelphia Eagles coming around after a breakthrough NFC East title in 1988. They spent much of the following season looking ready to keep building on that success before some late disappointment ended the season and proved to be a harbinger of things to come. Here are the highlights of the 1989 Philadelphia Eagles season…

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

*The success of the Eagles was built around a ferocious defensive front four, keyed by future Hall of Fame tackle Reggie White. A 1st-team All-Pro, White finished with 11 sacks and he had plenty of help. Jerome Brown recorded ten more sacks from the other tackle spot. Clyde Simmons was on the edge and rang up 15 ½ sacks. And in the defensive backfield, Eric Allen was a 1st-team All-Pro himself and picked off eight passes. Ryan was renowned as a defensive genius for his work as coordinator with the 1985 Chicago Bears and the ‘89 Eagles were a part of that legacy.

*Randall Cunningham enjoyed a Pro Bowl year at quarterback. A respectable passer, Cunningham separated himself with his legs and he led the Eagles in rushing. Although in a way that underscored the problems with the Philly offensive line, which lacked any Pro Bowl talent .And neither Anthony Toney nor Keith Byars ran for so much as 600 yards on the season.

*What Cunningham did have, in addition to his unmatched mobility was a balanced corps of receivers. Keith Jackson was the best tight end in the league. Cris Carter found his ultimate Hall of Fame greatness in Minnesota, but his final year in Philly this season was still a productive one. Byars caught 68 balls out of the backfield. The offense wasn’t great, but at 13th in the league it was more than enough when coupled with Ryan’s defense.

*Against a difficult September schedule, Philadelphia was a little slow out of the gate. They lost a Week 3 home game to eventual Super Bowl champ San Francisco after leading 28-17 in the second half. The Eagle defense fell under a flurry a fourth-quarter touchdown passes by Joe Montana. They played poorly the following Monday Night in Chicago, a grudge game for Ryan against his old boss Mike Ditka.

*What saved the opening of the Philadelphia season was a bizarre game in Washington. After falling behind 20-0 and 30-14, an Eagles rally looked poised to come up just short. They were down 37-35 and the Redskins were killing the clock, when running back Gerald Riggs fumbled. Philadelphia’s Wes Hopkins raced to the Washington 4-yard line, where the Eagles scored the winning touchdown. This win, combined with a 31-7 blowout of mediocre Seattle in the season-opener kept Philadelphia at 2-2 after the first month.

* A big home win over Bill Parcells’ New York Giants keyed an October surge. Trailing 19-14, Cunningham scored the game-winning touchdown. The record book says it a one-yard run. In reality, New York looked ready to swarm Cunningham at the three-yard line before he stretched his 6’4” frame out and got the ball over the goal line.

*Another late drive delivered a big win at eventual AFC champ Denver. Byars’ 1-yard touchdown run sealed a 28-24 run, an appropriate finish to a game where the rushing attack saved the Eagles. Byars’ ran for 93 yards and Philly outrushed John Elway’s Broncos 215-104 to win this late Sunday afternoon showcase game. In between this win and the aforementioned Giants’ win, Philadelphia tacked on wins over the Cardinals and Raiders and were soaring at 6-2.

*Two bad stumbles followed, a 20-17 loss in San Diego and a 10-3 home loss to Washington. The Chargers were a bad team and while the Redskins were a consistent contender in the Joe Gibbs era and went 10-6 in 1989, this game came right on the heels of Washington playing one of its worst games of the decade, a home loss to a Dallas team that would win only once all year.

*It was time for another surge. The Eagles edged the playoff-bound Minnesota Vikings 10-9 at home, thanks to the defense collecting five turnovers and the Vikes missing an extra point. An even bigger win came in the Meadowlands against the Giants. Simmons came up with a 60-yard Pick-6 against Phil Simms. It was the showcase play of a game where the Philly front four was locked in—they sacked Simms five times, shut down the run and won the football game 24-17.

*Immediately surrounding the Giants’ game was two matchups with Dallas. Philadelphia took care of business both times and they entered the season’s final two weeks tied atop the NFC East with New York—and owning the head-to-head tiebreaker. The #2 seed in the NFC playoffs, behind San Francisco was squarely in their grasp.

*Officially, a Monday Night road loss against a decent, but not great New Orleans team cost the Eagles the division title and relegated them to the wild-card round. Unofficially, it was probably a bigger blow to have to lost the game with San Diego in early November and Philly was unable to make up for that one. They closed out the season with an easy home win over the Cardinals to lock up a playoff spot, but the damage was done.

*The last stumble came on New Year’s Eve in front of the home fans. In a cold rain, the Eagles were simply outmuscled by the Los Angeles Rams. Philly gave up 124 yards on the ground to Greg Bell, fell behind 14-0 early and ultimately lost 21-7. It was a bitter way to end a season that had so much promise as late as December.

*That playoff loss set the stage for Ryan’s undoing. The Eagles were able to return to postseason play in 1990, but yet another home loss—this one to the Redskins—got the head coach fired. Rich Kotite replaced him and he was followed by Ray Rhodes. Philadelphia continued to consistently reach the playoffs under both, into the late 1990s. But they never reached the NFC Championship Game, much less the Super Bowl, until Andy Reid came to town. And this proud franchise with as passionate a fan base as there is anywhere, waited until 2017 for their first Super Bowl title.

The 1989 New York Giants Return To The Top Of The NFC East

, , , , ,

Since winning the Super Bowl in 1986, Bill Parcells and the Giants had gone through some tough times. The strike-torn season of 1987 was a disaster for Big Blue. 1988 saw some recovery, but a crushing loss to the Jets in the finale cost the Giants a playoff berth. They needed to get back into the postseason and the 1989 New York Giants did just that, returning to the top of the NFC East.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

It was all about defense in this era of New York Giants’ history and while the ‘89 team wasn’t stacked with Pro Bowl players, they had two essential cogs—Lawrence Taylor was 1st-team All-NFL at outside linebacker and Bill Belichick was the defensive coordinator. A wrecking ball on the field and brilliance in the press box combined to make the Giants defense the second-best in the league in points allowed.

The offense was competent, ranking 12th in a 28-team league, but not great. Phil Simms was 34-years-old and played pretty well in offense built around the run. Ottis Anderson ran for over 1,000 yards but his 3.1 yards-per-attempt was low. The receiving corps didn’t knock your socks off, although between Odessa Turner and Lionel Manuel on the outside, along with Mark Bavaro and Zeke Mowatt at tight end, it had the virtue of balance.

New York did get a nice lift from an unexpected source. Dave Meggett, a rookie from Towson known to perhaps no one except Parcells provided a change of pace in the running game, a reliable target out of the backfield and most importantly, he became a Pro Bowl punt returner. On a team that relied on grinding out field position, Meggett’s contributions were no small thing.

SWEEPING THE SKINS

The season opened on a Monday Night in Washington, where the Redskins were also looking to rebound after a recent Super Bowl championship was followed by a non-playoff year. On a humid September night in old RFK Stadium, it was kicker Raul Allegre that came up big.

Trailing in the fourth quarter after a Simms Pick-6 put the Giants in a 24-21 hole, Allegre first hit a field goal to tie it. Then he drilled a 52-yarder on the final play of the game to win. This writer, a lifelong Redskins fan, still remembers how crushed and sweaty I was in the heat of my college dorm late that Monday night.

This was part of a three-year stretch (1988-90) where the Giants owned the Redskins. They won all six games and they were all more or less gutwrenchers for those of us who bleed burgundy-and-gold. The rematch at the Meadowlands came in mid-October. Anderson rushed for 101 yards and Simms rallied New York after they trailed 10-6 going into the fourth quarter. He found Bavaro and Turner for touchdown passes and the Giants won 20-17.

The sweep of Washington gave New York a big boost in an NFC East race that was built around these two teams and the Philadelphia Eagles. And those two wins were the highlight of a very consistent stretch of football through nine weeks. The rest of the schedule wasn’t great, save for a Monday Night home win over the playoff-bound Minnesota Vikings and a tough loss in Philly, but the Giants methodically churned out wins. They sat on an 8-1 record as a difficult portion of the schedule approached.

TROUBLE AGAINST THE BEST

New York went west to face the Los Angeles Rams, the eventual 5-seed in the NFC playoffs. The Giants were pummeled on the ground, losing rush yardage 150-6 and losing the football game 31-10. After a ho-hum win over mediocre Seattle, New York again got on the plane west. They faced San Francisco on a Monday Night. The 49ers were the defending Super Bowl champs and would win it again in 1989.

The Giants again dug themselves a hole, falling behind 24-7 in the second quarter, with Joe Montana carving them up for a couple touchdown passes. This time, Simms rallied his team. He put the ball up 48 times for the game and threw for 326 yards. Touchdown passes of 53 yards to Meggett and 7 to Turner eventually tied the game 24-24.

Montana was too much to overcome. He finished a surreal 27/33 for 292 yards and three touchdowns. More important, he made no mistakes while Simms was intercepted three times. San Francisco got a second wind and won 34-24.

Most damaging was a home loss one week later to Philadelphia. The New York offensive line was manhandled, allowing five sacks, only getting 58 yards on the ground and Eagles defensive lineman Clyde Simmons produced a touchdown. That was the difference in a 24-17 loss amidst heavy winds at the Meadowlands.

New York still had a clear path to the playoffs, but Philadelphia now controlled the division. The teams were tied at 9-4, with the Eagles owning the head-to-head sweep.

RALLY FOR THE NFC EAST

The Giants-Broncos game a week later in Mile High Stadium was shown to most of the country and it was realistically make-or-break for New York’s NFC East title hopes. Denver would make its third Super Bowl in four years this season, but they always had problems matching up with the best in the NFC. This game was no exception. Simms played efficiently, Meggett produced a 57-yard touchdown catch and the Giants won a physical battle, 14-7.

They remainder of the schedule was more than manageable—home games with a horrible Dallas Cowboys team and the mediocre Los Angeles Raiders. New York won both games without breaking a sweat. And on the penultimate Monday Night of the season, the Giants got the break they needed—the Eagles lost in New Orleans. New York’s win over the Raiders sealed the division crown and #2 seed in the playoffs.

PLAYOFF HEARTBREAKER

The Rams came to the Meadowlands for the divisional playoff game in the early Sunday afternoon time slot. In a tough, physical battle, the Giants just didn’t make enough big plays. Simms went 14/29 for 180 yards while counterpart Jim Everett turned his 25/44 day into 315 yards. Everett hit two big touchdown passes to Flipper Anderson, the latter a 30-yard post pattern in overtime that ended the New York season, 19-13.

It was a tough way to end the season, but the Giants were back on the board as a playoff team. And one year later they were back on the board in a bigger way—with the second Super Bowl trophy of the Parcells era.

The Highs & Lows Of The 1989 Miami Dolphins

, , , , ,

The Miami Dolphins were on relative hard times for the Don Shula era coming into 1989. They had missed the playoffs each of the previous three years, bottoming out with a 6-10 finish in 1988. The ‘89 team got back into contention and even though they ultimately came up short, set the stage for another run of winning seasons in the decade ahead. Here are the noteworthy points about the 1989 Miami Dolphins…

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

*Miami made it back to .500 in 1989 in spite of a down year from Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino. His 24/22 TD-INT ratio, while not as disastrous as it would be in today’s game, was still below what Marino was accustomed to producing. Nor were the interception problems counterbalanced by more big plays—the 7.3 yards-per-attempt was pedestrian.

*Mark Clayton enjoyed a 1,000-yard season at receiver and tight end Ferrell Edmunds made the Pro Bowl. It was Mark Duper, the other key wideout, whose production went down with Marino’s. The offense finished 15th in a 28-team NFL in scoring offense.

*Defense was the Dolphins’ problem, even in their run to the Super Bowl in 1984, and this season was no different. The only bright spot was Pro Bowler John Offerdahl, in the midst of a five-year stretch as one of the game’s top inside linebackers. But without help, Offerdahl alone wasn’t enough to stop the defense from ranking 22nd in points allowed.

*Miami lost three of their first four games. Some of this was due to schedule—they lost a close game at home to Buffalo and were buried by the Houston Oilers, both consistent playoff teams in this time period. But one of the losses was to the lowly New York Jets, a shootout where Marino was outgunned by Ken O’Brien. And Marino himself did not play well in the 24-10 win over New England in Week 2, throwing three interceptions.

*By rights a difficult October schedule should have finished the Dolphins, but instead it’s where they bounced back. They won in Cleveland, who reached the AFC Championship Game. Miami beat Cincinnati, the defending AFC champ, and they knocked off Green Bay. Both the Bengals and Packers were in playoff contention to the final week.

All three wins were thrillers—the Browns game was in overtime, the Dolphins rallied from ten down to beat the Bengals and the Green Bay victory came on a Pete Stoyanovich field goal after Miami had blown a two-touchdown lead. The only loss in the season’s second quarter came at Buffalo.

*After playing that kind of competition, the schedule was bound to lighten up and Miami took advantage. They rattled off three more wins. A 19-13 home win over Indianapolis came thanks to 123 rushing yards from Sammie Smith. Trailing the Jets 20-10 on the road in the third quarter, Marino rifled touchdown passes of 78 & 65 yards to key the 31-23 triumph. The winning streak ended with a 17-14 win at home over Dallas, after falling behind 14-3 in the first half.

*Miami was 7-4 and in a balanced AFC, were in prime position to make the playoffs and maybe even rise as high as the 2-seed. But the Cowboy game had the warning signs—Dallas was the worst team in football, starting a major rebuilding project under Jimmy Johnson, and they still outrushed Miami 167-65. The Dolphins would come crashing back to earth in the season’s final five weeks.

*The schedule was challenging, though not unbearable. Miami lost badly at home to Pittsburgh, a team that eventually made the playoffs at 9-7. This game proved to be where the Steelers and Dolphins essentially crossed paths. Miami lost twice to Kansas City (prior to 2002, the last-place schedule in five-team divisions had those teams playing twice), who ended up narrowly missing the postseason in their first year under Marty Schottenheimer. The worst loss was a 42-13 massacre at Indianapolis in the second-to-last game, with both teams badly needing the win. Only a home date with New England provided any solace in December.

The 8-8 finish might have felt disappointing in the moment, but after the rough 1988 year and the poor start to this season, it represented a nice comeback. And better days were immediately ahead. Marino’s game returned to normal and Miami made the playoffs in 1990, starting a run of four postseason appearances in six years.

1989 Minnesota Vikings: A Bold Move Doesn’t Deliver

, , , , ,

The 1989 Minnesota Vikings were a team looking to get over the hump. In 1987 and 1988 they had been a solid playoff team and were widely considered to have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL. They did everything they could to reach the final plateau, including a midseason trade that lives in sports infamy. But in the end, the ‘89 Vikings were much like their immediate predecessors—they were good, but they weren’t championship quality.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

Minnesota’s success started with one of the best defensive lines in football. Keith Millard at defensive tackle recorded 18 sacks and won Defensive Player of the Year honors. On the edge, Chris Doleman rang up 21 more sacks. The secondary had a pair of Pro Bowlers in corner Carl Lee and strong safety Joey Browner. The unit as a whole ranked sixth in the league in points allowed.

Offensively, quarterback Wade Wilson could be a little erratic, throwing an average of one interception per start. But he also had a live arm and one of the better receivers in the NFL in Anthony Carter, who enjoyed a Pro Bowl campaign and produced over 1,000 yards in the air. If Wilson wanted to throw underneath he had another Pro Bowl talent in tight end Steve Jordan. Hassan Jones was a reliable second receiver.

The Vikings’ offensive front was no less loaded than the rest of the team. Randall McDaniel was a Pro Bowler at left guard in 1989 and he ended up in the Hall of Fame. Gary Zimmerman made the Pro Bowl at left tackle. Minnesota just needed someone who could run behind this line consistently. Darrin Nelson was a nice back, but more of a pass-catcher. Fullback Rick Fenney wasn’t a big-play threat. The Vikes needed a runner to complete the puzzle.

BLAST-OFF AGAINST HOUSTON

Minnesota played the marquee late-afternoon game of Week 1 when they hosted the Houston Oilers—ironically another team who had been to two straight postseasons, was widely considered to have excellent talent and had not turned it into a Super Bowl. The Oilers had a future of Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon and an offense that could spread the field and score quickly.

Moon spent most of the game on the Metrodome turf. Millard and Doleman set the tone for the season with a combined five sacks. Minnesota’s defense as a whole got to Moon seven times. The result was a 38-7 rout and those Super Bowl expectations in the Twin Cities were looking good.

BACK TO EARTH

Another big game in the 3 PM Central time slot was up next in Soldier Field. The Chicago Bears were the gold standard in the NFC Central Division (the four current teams of the NFC North plus Tampa Bay) and had won the division the last five years. Minnesota came into the game as a (-1.5) road favorite, indicating that oddsmakers felt their time had come.

The time didn’t come on this afternoon. Wilson threw four interceptions and a game that was close after three quarters got away late and turned into another ugly 38-7 score, this one in the wrong direction. Minnesota’s problems running the football surfaced again the next week in Pittsburgh. The Steelers were a team that would end the year in the playoffs, but hadn’t started particularly well. The Vikes helped them find their footing, being unable to stop the run and losing 27-14.

THE BIG MOVE

Minnesota came home to play two straight subpar divisional opponents. They dominated Tampa Bay defensively and won 17-3. Against Detroit, a second-quarter explosion produced 24 points, including a 90-yard Pick-6 by Isaac Holt. The Vikings didn’t score outside the second quarter, but they didn’t need to, winning 24-17.

Another NFC Central foe that was perceived as subpar at the time, the Green Bay Packers, were up next. Minnesota was a game back of Chicago in the divisional race and decided now was the time to make a big move. The Dallas Cowboys were enduring an awful season under first-year coach Jimmy Johnson and had one tradeable asset—running back Herschel Walker. The Vikings needed a physical runner. The Cowboys needed a future. It was an ideal trading match.

Dallas got another suitor, the Cleveland Browns, interested and Johnson got a bidding war going. By the time it was done, the Vikings had parted with five veteran players, including Nelson, along with several high draft picks.

This was steep, but there was more in the fine print. If Dallas cut the five vets by the end of the season, they could cash them in more draft picks. Viking GM Mike Lynn believed the Cowboy roster was so bad that Dallas would have to keep the vets in order to maintain a viable product. He was right, but wrong in his read of the situation. Johnson had the backing of owner Jerry Jones to tear the entire thing down and start over, and he had no intention of keeping the players. Minnesota’s entire future ended up mortgaged for Walker.

In the short-term, Lynn looked like a bold visionary. Walker dominated in his debut against the Packers, rushing for 148 yards. Minnesota dominated in a 26-14 game not as close as the score makes it sound. They went to Detroit the next week where Walker outrushed exciting Lion rookie Barry Sanders, while the defense forced five turnovers and keyed a 20-7 win.

The win streak came to an end on Monday Night Football against the eventual NFC East champ New York Giants, as the Vikes turned the ball over four times and lost 24-14. But they bounced back at home against another playoff team, the Los Angeles Rams. The game went to overtime tied 21-21, although the Vikings got there in a bizarre way—seven field goals, every one after the offense had driven into the red zone.

It was a game they seemed to be begging Los Angeles to take from them, but there was one more strange play left—Viking linebacker Mike Meriweather blocked a punt out of the end zone. The Vikes had a 23-21 OT win without ever getting into the end zone.

Minnesota went to Tamp Bay, got an early defensive touchdown, jumped to a 17-0 lead and coasted home 24-10. They were 7-3 and while the NFC Central race was tight, with Chicago and Green Bay both in the mix, the Vikings seemed to be taking control.

HEARTBREAKERS

Walker opened a road game in Philadelphia with a 93-yard kickoff return and it looked the good times would continue. But a missed extra point was not only an omen, it cost the Vikes the game. They turned it over five times, Wilson went 14/34 for 151 yards and they lost 10-9 to another team that was heading for the playoffs.

More painful was the following week in Lambeau Field on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Minnesota was down 20-16 and driving for the winning score. The drive stalled on the 2-yard line in the fourth quarter and it was early enough that head coach Jerry Burns kicked the field goal. That was the difference in a 20-19 loss.

Minnesota was now tied with Green Bay atop the NFC Central at 7-5, with slumping Chicago at 6-6. A more ominous problem was that an inability to run the ball near the goal line had cost them against the Packers and nearly did against the Rams. This wasn’t what the Walker deal was supposed to bring.

PUSH TO THE PLAYOFFS

The Vikings had a chance to put away the Bears in a Sunday Night game to start the season’s final push. Wilson threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Jones, keying an early 17-3 lead. Wilson finished 15/26 for 260 yards and led the way to a 27-16 win that all but ended Chicago’s hold on the division. And Minnesota kept pace with Green Bay.

The running game re-emerged at home against lowly Atlanta. The Vikes enjoyed a 220-67 edge in rushing yardage. They led 20-17 in the third quarter when Millard recovered a fumble and went 31 yards to the house. It triggered an outburst that led to a 43-17 rout. Green Bay lost at home to Kansas City and the Vikings were now a game up with the tiebreaker, thanks to a superior divisional record. They just needed one more win.

On an icy field in Cleveland facing a Browns team that would reach the AFC Championship Game, Minnesota lost a heartbreaker. Tied 17-17 in overtime and with kicking conditions miserable, the Browns executed a fake field goal for a touchdown. Meanwhile, Green Bay won decisively in Chicago. It would come down to the final week of the season.

The Packers beat the Cowboys and set up a monster Monday Night in the Metrodome. The Vikings would play the Cincinnati Bengals. The wild-card spots in the NFC were sewn up by the Eagles and Rams—this was win-or-go-home for Minnesota.

It was also win-or-go-home for Cincinnati. And it was Christmas Night, making it a memorable night in four different fan bases who had their playoff hopes in the balance (the Vikings had friends in Pittsburgh who needed the Bengals to lose).

Doleman was dominant and delivered four sacks. Minnesota forced five turnovers. Wilson went 19/35 for 303 yards, with Carter catching seven balls for 118 yards. The Vikes were up 19-0 by halftime, before the Bengals stormed back to cut the lead to 22-21. Minnesota faced a 4th-and-goal on the 1-yard line late in the game.

Burns had seen enough of red-zone failures. In the days prior to the two-point conversion, a touchdown would all but seal the win. The head coach went for it and called a play-action pass. The play to second-year tight end Brent Novoselsky worked perfectly. It was 29-21 and the Vikings were NFC Central champs for the first time since 1980.

THE END OF AN ERA

Minnesota went to San Francisco for the divisional round of the playoffs, the third straight time they had gone to Candlestick for this round. Each previous game had been a blowout—the Vikings stunned everyone in 1987 and the 49ers returned the favor in 1988. San Francisco took Game 3 and it was again a rout. Joe Montana threw four touchdown passes in the first half and the final was 41-13.

This loss was essentially the end of a short era for the Vikings, that of the late 1980s ascendancy. They missed the playoffs each of the next two years and Burns was replaced with Dennis Green, who got the franchise back on track. And as Minnesota fans know all too well, Herschel Walker never panned out, at least not at a star level. The Cowboys used those draft picks to build the great dynasty of the early 1990s.

The Stunning Collapse Of The 1989 Chicago Bears

, , , , ,

The Chicago Bears of Mike Ditka were as good as it got in the NFL from 1984-88. In that five-year stretch they won the NFC Central each year. They played in three NFC Championship Games, including 1988. And their 1985 Super Bowl championship team was one of the most iconic squads of its generation. That’s what made the collapse of the 1989 Chicago Bears such a surprise.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

Perhaps it shouldn’t have been—the ‘89 Bears started three rookies on the defensive side of the ball. All three proved to be at least decent players—defensive tackle Trace Armstrong, linebacker John Roper and corner Donnell Woolford. But it introduced considerable inexperience into the unit that was the focal point of the Bears’ success.

Chicago still got a great year from two-time Defensive Player of the Year Mike Singletary, as the middle linebacker again made 1st-team All-NFL. But Singletary was the only Pro Bowl player on a defense that ended up a poor 20th in the league in points allowed.

Offensively, the Bears were pretty good in spite of what was now familiar instability at quarterback. Mike Tomczak got eleven starts and Jim Harbaugh the other five. Both were mistake-prone and collectively, finished with a TD/INT ratio of 21-25. Even in an era not as friendly to passing as ours is today, this was pretty bad.

What Chicago could do was run the football. Neal Anderson was in his third year as the starter since taking the baton from the legendary Walter Payton in 1987. Anderson ran for nearly 1,300 yards. Jay Hilgenberg anchored the offensive line and was 1st-team All-Pro at center. The Bear running attack was enough to spearhead an offense than ended 10th in the NFL in points scored.

BLAZING START

The season opened with a high-profile home game against the Cincinnati Bengals, who had come within 34 seconds of winning the Super Bowl in 1988. Both teams had high hopes again this year and the game did not disappoint. Neither did the Bears—Anderson rushed for 146 yards and Tomczak’s 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end James Thornton was the difference in a 17-14 win.

Another big game at Soldier Field was on deck in Week 2. The Minnesota Vikings had been in the playoffs in both 1987 and 1988 and with a talented defense, most observers were waiting for them to step and dethrone the Bears in the NFC Central. The fact the Vikes were a (-1.5) road favorite with Chicago coming off a big win shows how much respect Minnesota had.

The Bears put the challengers right back in their place. The game was tight and physical for three quarters, with Chicago holding a 10-7 lead. Then the floodgates unleashed. The Bears exploded for four touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone. Lemuel Stinson’s Pick-6 made him one of four Chicago players to intercept Viking quarterback Wade Wilson. The 38-7 win sent a clear message that this division still belonged to Ditka’s team.

A third straight home game awaited against a weak Detroit Lions team and the Bears kept rolling. Tomczak went 17/25 for 302 yards and even though the Lions had a rookie runner named Barry Sanders, Anderson was the most productive back on the field. He went for 116 yards in an easy 47-27 win.

Yet another marquee game was up in Week 4, this one on Monday Night in Philadelphia. The Eagles had won the NFC East in 1988, would make the playoffs again this year and been eliminated by Chicago the previous January in a divisional playoff game remembered most for the fog that set in and dramatically obscured visibility in the second half.

More than that though, the Eagles were coached by Buddy Ryan, who had been the defensive coordinator for the ‘85 Bears. Ryan was beloved by players, but the disdain he and Ditka had for each other was no secret.

It was the ‘89 Bear defense that made the plays on this night though—they forced six turnovers, including intercepting Randall Cunningham four times. Defensive tackle Richard Dent recorded three sacks. Chicago built a 20-3 lead, saw it cut to 20-13 in the fourth quarter and then sealed the game when Tomczak threw 36 yards to Thornton.

To say there was no sign of any trouble in Chicago would be an understatement—the Bears were 4-0, were up two games in the NFC Central (the four current teams of the NFC North plus Tampa Bay) and had won three showcase games, any one of which would have been enough to validate the season’s opening quarter. The Bears looked like the best team in football.

CRACKS SHOW

The city of Chicago was juiced up on the second weekend of October. Not only were the Bears rolling, but the Cubs were in the National League Championship Series and playing out in San Francisco. The Bears suffered a letdown against a lousy Tampa Bay team, losing 42-35 and the Cubbies lost three straight to the Giants and never got the series back to Wrigley.

From the football perspective, it didn’t seem like a turning point—more like an understandable letdown after spending all of September playing pressure-cooker games. When the Bears hosted a playoff-bound Houston Oilers team and took a 28-19 lead into the fourth quarter, it seemed like order was about to be restored. But six turnovers did Chicago in, Warren Moon led Houston to a pair of touchdowns and the Bears lost 33-28.

A trip to Cleveland for Monday Night football did nothing to halt the slide. Harbaugh and Tomczak both played and neither performed well, negating a decisive edge in rush yardage. The Browns of the late 1980s were a good team and the ‘89 team made the AFC Championship Game. The Bears lost this one 27-7.

It was time for some real urgency with yet another playoff team, the Los Angeles Rams, coming into Chicago. The Bears again won the battle in the trenches—Anderson ran for 80 yards, while the Rams’ normally productive runner Greg Bell was held to 32. Harbaugh came on in relief of Tomczak and played well, going 10/13 for 157 yards. The Bears took a game that was 3-3 at the half and methodically churned out a 20-10 win.

The glow of September might have been gone, but Chicago was still in good shape. They were still 5-3, had played through a brutally tough schedule and still the safest bet to win the division. Especially with a game at Green Bay coming up.

CONTROVERSY

NFL fans conditioned to Packer excellence over the last thirty years—especially against the Bears—wouldn’t recognize the world of 1989, where Green Bay was usually inept and Ditka owned this rivalry. The ‘89 Packers were 4-4, but against a significantly weaker schedule than what the Bears had seen. So it was no surprise that in this game Chicago would win the rush yardage battle, 133-69, the turnover margin 2-zip and get five sacks, two of them from Roper.

What was a surprise is that they couldn’t finish Green Bay off and Chicago clung to a 13-7 lead late in the game. The Packers faced a fourth down on the Bear 14-yard line. What happened next is a play that lives in Bears’ infamy. Chicago fans insist that Green Bay quarterback Don Majikowski was over the line of scrimmage before throwing the winning touchdown pass. How insistent are Bears fans? The team media guide to this day has an asterisk next to the result—a 14-13 win for the Pack. I think the officials got the call right and that, at minimum, it was close enough that the Windy City could have let this one go after two decades. But then, I’m originally from Wisconsin and though not a Packer fan, I was sympathetic to their cause.

The Bears took out their anger on the Pittsburgh Steelers, another playoff-bound team in an impressive 20-0 road win. The rushing margin in this one was a thunderous 203-54 and with a revenge game against lowly Tampa Bay up next, Chicago could really reclaim some momentum.

Instead, the Buccaneers came north as an (-11) underdog and stunned Chicago 32-31. Four turnovers helped put the Bears in a 29-17 hole. Harbaugh appeared to save the day, connecting with Wendell Davis on touchdowns from 26 and 52 yards. But the defensive problems again surfaced, with the Bucs driving for a field goal and the win.

THE FINAL COLLAPSE

A Redskins-Bears game in the 1980s was must-see television. The teams met three times in four years in the playoffs. With Chicago at 6-5 and Washington at 5-6, both teams were at risk of missing the postseason and this late afternoon kick with Pat Summerall and John Madden —then the top broadcast team in the NFC—on the Sunday after Thanksgiving–was no exception.

Only the Bears essentially didn’t show up in old RFK Stadium. They were carved up by Mark Rypien, who threw for 400 yards and the final was an embarrassing 38-14. The strength of the rest of the NFC realistically eliminated Chicago from wild-card contention, but they were still only a game back in the Central Division race.

That made Sunday Night Football in the Twin Cities a must-have game. The Bears again turned in a poor game, with Tomczak going 13/33 for 180 yards. The 27-16 final was never really competitive. And the free-fall kept going.

Chicago lost to Detroit 27-17. A visit from Green Bay was a cruel reminder of how the two teams had taken opposite paths out of the controversial finish in Lambeau Field—the Packers were coming on strong and were the team battling the Vikings for supremacy in the Central. Chicago put up a little resistance, turning the ball over five times in a 40-28 loss. The season ended the next week in San Francisco against the eventual Super Bowl champion 49ers—again the Bears turned it over five times and lost 26-0 to a team that already had the 1-seed clinched.

BOUNCING BACK

Chicago’s 6-10 season was as shock to the system, but the good news for Windy City sports fans is this—it was an aberration, not the onset of a pattern. The following season, Ditka made Harbaugh the starting quarterback. The defense re-established itself and the Bears returned to the top of the NFC Central. The end of the 1989 season was just a bizarre sideshow in the story that is the Mike Ditka era of Chicago Bears history.

The Magical Run Of The 1989 Green Bay Packers

, , , , ,

An entire generation of NFL fans have grown up with the Green Bay Packers as a benchmark of success, with great quarterbacks from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers leading the way. But it wasn’t that way in the world of the late 1980s. The 1989 Green Bay Packers were the heirs to a recent franchise history that had seen two playoff appearances since the Lombardi era ended following the 1967 season. That’s why this Packer team—even though they ultimately came up short of the playoffs, captured the heart of its loyal fan base with a run that was quite magical.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

The “magic” in this case derived from the nickname of the quarterback. Don Majkowski—or “Majik” as he was casually referred to—had a breakout season at age 25. Majik threw 27 touchdown passes and made the Pro Bowl. His primary target was Sterling Sharpe, a 1st-team All-NFL receiver who caught ninety balls for over 1,400 yards.

A creative offense utilized by second-year head coach Lindy Infante, the offensive coordinator for the successful Cleveland Browns teams of 1986-87, got the running backs involved in the passing game. Keith Woodside caught 59 passes and Herman Fontenot grabbed 40 more.

The Packers did not have good offensive line talent, a problem they hoped to redress by using the second overall pick in the 1989 NFL draft on Michigan State tackle Tony Mandarich. That didn’t exactly work out—but more on that later.

With Infante orchestrating and Majik the lead musician, the Green Bay offense ranked eighth in the NFL in points scored. It was enough to overcome a defense that ranked 18th in what was then a 28-team league. Outside linebacker Tim Harris was 1st-team All-Pro with 19 1\/2 sacks, but he was a lonely warrior on a lineup lacking in quality depth.

SAME OLD PACK

Nothing happened in Week 1 to suggest a special season. Green Bay hosted Tampa Bay, a “battle” between two generally weak teams and the Packers managed to lose it. Majik threw three interceptions, the Bucs scored three second-quarter touchdowns and Green Bay fell 23-21.

Mediocre New Orleans came to Lambeau Field next and jumped out to a 21-0 second quarter lead. Then the first inklings of some magic began to appear. Majkowski completed 25/32 passes for 354 yards, three touchdowns and flipped a three-yard scoring pass to Sharpe that stole a 35-34 win. Majik almost did it again the following week on the road against a good Los Angeles Rams team. After digging a 38-7 hole, the quarterback threw for 335 yards, with Sharpe getting 164 of them. Green Bay closed fast, but lost 41-38.

More comeback action was on display at home against lowly Atlanta—trailing 21-6 after three quarters, Majik delivered a 23-21 win. The Dallas Cowboys came to town next. This was an awful team, coming off a 3-13 season that ended the career of Tom Landry and ushered in the Jimmy Johnson era. Dallas would only win one game in 1989 and it wasn’t coming here—trailing 13-10 in the second quarter, Majik hit Sharpe with a 79-yard touchdown pass, then went 38 yards to Fontenot in the third and sealed the 31-13 win with a four-yard toss to Perry Kemp in the final period.

Following this game, the Cowboys dealt Herschel Walker to Green Bay’s divisional rival Minnesota and got a boatload of draft picks. This trade turned Dallas into an early 1990s dynasty and has become the signature deal for any team that moves a veteran star for draft picks. In the short-term all it did for the Packers was get Walker to the Vikings in time for Green Bay’s trip to the Metrodome in Week 6. Herschel ran for 148 yards, keying a big Minnesota edge on the ground and the Packers’ 26-14 loss wasn’t even as competitive as it appears.

Green Bay traveled to Miami and fell behind 20-6 in the fourth quarter. The Majik-to-Sharpe combination stepped up again, with a pair of touchdowns that tied it. But the Dolphins got a field goal late to survive 23-20.

The Packers were definitely more exciting than in recent years and had certainly established you couldn’t count them out. But they were also 3-4 against an early schedule heavy on winnable home games. There was no reason to think anything special was in the works.

GETTING ON THEIR FEET

Through 1994, Green Bay played three home games a year at Milwaukee’s old County Stadium (home to the Brewers through the balance of the 20th century) and they hosted Detroit. The Packers won 23-20, although it took overtime after blowing a ten-point lead in the fourth quarter. And the rush defense was again a problem, with rookie Barry Sanders—taken one pick behind Mandarich—going for 184 yards.

On the surface, another home win over a bad team didn’t seem noteworthy, except for the fact that to be 4-4 at the midway point was cause for celebration in Packer Land back in those days (I grew up there, I know whereof I speak). But this was the start of something special.

The Chicago Bears came to Lambeau. The standard in the old NFC Central (the four current teams of the NFC North plus Tampa Bay) in the 1980s, the Bears had gotten off to a fast start, before starting to struggle of late. A win here would put them back on track and Green Bay trailed 13-7 late in the game.

Majik faced a fourth down on the Chicago 14-yard line. He rolled to his right and found Sharpe in the end zone. Touchdown—except an official ruled the front of his foot had gone over the line of scrimmage. It was the early days of instant replay and the play was reviewed. After a lengthy process, the call was overturned. Touchdown, and the Packers won 14-13. This is a call that lives in infamy in Chicago, which refuses to recognize the game as a Packer win their media guide to this day. But the NFL standings recognizes it as a win and on a less important note, I think it was the right call. 

Green Bay had a letdown the following week in Detroit. The 31-22 loss came with turnovers, including a Pick-6, negating a huge edge in total yardage. The Packers were 5-5 and still not a lot of reason to be thinking playoffs in an era when only five teams per conference made it. But they were now indisputably one of the most fun teams in the league.

MAKING A MOVE

San Francisco was the gold standard of the NFL—the previous January they won their third Super Bowl of the decade and were en route to a 14-2 season and another title in this season. So when Green Bay went west as a (+10.5) underdog and pulled off a 21-17 upset it raised more than a few eyebrows. It wasn’t a vintage Majik performance—he went 18/30 for 153 yards and was outplayed by Joe Montana. But the Packers shut down the 49er ground game, recovered three fumbles and let San Francisco self-destruct with ten penalties. Green Bay had the signature win they needed to make up for some of the disappointing losses they’d suffered earlier.

The Packers got another win they needed even more, edging the Vikings in Lambeau. Sharpe had a monster afternoon, catching ten passes for 157 yards. Veteran corner Dave Brown picked off two passes. Clinging to a 20-16 lead in the fourth quarter, the Green Bay defense came up with a red zone stop and the Vikings settled for a field goal. The game ended at 20-19 and the race was on in the NFC Central.

Green Bay pulled off some more late-game magic in Tampa Bay. Trailing 16-14, they got a 47-yard field goal from Chris Jacke to win it. The Majik-to-Shape combo was clicking, as the two hooked up eight times for 169 yards. That night in prime-time, the Vikings beat the Bears. Chicago was in full-scale meltdown and with three games left, Minnesota and Green Bay were tied at 8-5.

THE LAST PUSH

One thing Green Bay did not have was the tiebreaker—losses to Tampa Bay and Detroit left them a game back of Minnesota in the critical category of divisional record, so it was the Packers who needed help. Instead, they responded by losing badly at home, 21-3 to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs were a non-playoff team in 1989, though coming on strong under first-year coach Marty Schottenheimer. When Minnesota blew out Atlanta, Green Bay’s margin for error was gone.

They responded by going to Chicago and winning in a fashion that left Bears fans with no room for doubt. Woodside rumbled 68 yards for a touchdown that started the scoring. The defense forced five turnovers and Green Bay won 40-28. At the same time, Minnesota was playing on a sheet of ice in Cleveland. The game went overtime and a Browns team fighting for its own playoff life, pulled it out. The Packers were still breathing.

It was the weekend of Christmas as the final NFL regular season games were played. Green Bay still had wild-card possibilities. They were 9-6, with Philadelphia and Los Angeles at 10-5. In a three-way tie at 10-6 (where the Packers loss to the Rams wouldn’t hurt), Green Bay could join Philadelphia as the wild-card. But they needed both teams to lose and both were playing losing teams.

All three of these games went down in the early afternoon on Christmas Eve. Green Bay went to Dallas (the schedule format prior to 2002 called for last-place teams in five-team divisions to play twice). The game was tied 10-10 in the third quarter as the Packers couldn’t run the ball. But Troy Aikman threw four interceptions, Majik went 21/32 for 232 yards with no mistakes and Green Bay methodically churned out a 20-10 win.

Now it was time to wait and hope. The Eagles, a two-touchdown favorite over the Cardinals, held serve easily, so there was little drama on the wild-card front. It would come down to the following night when Minnesota played Cincinnati on the final edition of Monday Night Football.

The last prime-time game of the year isn’t flexed, the way it is today, but this is certainly the game ABC would have chosen in any case. The Vikings and Bengals were both playing win-or-go-home games. The fan bases of the Packers and Steelers were gathered around for some Christmas Night drama.

Alas, it wasn’t to be for the Packers. The Bengals fell behind 19-0 and though they rallied to within 22-21, a Viking touchdown on fourth-and-goal late in the game sealed the 29-21 win. The playoff bid was over.

THE HARD CRASH

One year later, the NFL expanded its playoffs by one team per conference, meaning Green Bay was a year too early as the 6-seed. From a historical standpoint, that was more consequential than one might have thought at the time.

The Majik Man proved to be a flash in the pan and never again had a good year as an NFL quarterback. Tony Mandarich became one of the biggest busts in the history of the NFL draft. The Packers endured two disappointing seasons that ended Infante’s promising tenure as a head coach.

Majikowski stayed as starting quarterback until Week 3 of the 1992 season, with Packer fans hoping he could reclaim the magic of 1989. Finally, an injury knocked him out in that third game of 1992 and Brett Favre came off the bench. And finally, Green Bay Packer history changed decisively for the better.

 

Raymond Berry’s Last Year: The 1989 New England Patriots

, , , , , ,

In the days before Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, even before Bill Parcells and Drew Bledsoe, the expectations for the New England Patriots were a lot more modest. Raymond Berry had taken the franchise to what was then its heights in the late 1980s. They reached the Super Bowl in 1985, won an AFC East title in 1986 and only narrowly missed the playoffs in 1987 and 1988. But the decline accelerated the following year and the 1989 New England Patriots proved to be Berry’s last hurrah.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

When you combine a lack of great talent with chaos at quarterback, a subsequent lack of wins is a foregone conclusion and that’s what Berry was dealing with. He ran out four different players behind center—from aging 36-year-old Steve Grogan, to Marc Wilson to the declining Tony Eason to Doug Flutie. They all made too many mistakes and too few big plays.

The running game had been the pride and joy of the 1985 AFC champs, but the great John Hannah was in retirement and the offensive line lacked muscle. John Stephens was now the leading rusher and he finished the season with only 833 yards. At receiver, New England drafted Hart Lee Dykes from Oklahoma State with their first-round pick. At 6’4”, 215 lbs, Dykes was a big receiver for the time and was physically gifted. But his pro career never took off.

The end result was an offense that ranked 21st in what was then a 28-team league in points scored. And the defense was marginally worse, ranking 23rd. While outside linebacker Johnny Rembert was the team’s one Pro Bowl player, corner Raymond Clayborn was in decline at age 34. And 30-year-old defensive tackle Kenneth Sims continued his career as one of the biggest busts to ever go with the first overall draft pick (back in 1982 when the Patriots opted for Sims and joined nine other teams that passed on Heisman Trophy-winner Marcus Allen).

BARELY HANGING ON

Problems with the running game weren’t in evidence in Week 1 against the New York Jets. The Patriots went into the Meadowlands and outrushed the Jets 154-49, with a late four-yard TD run by Reggie Dupard providing the winning margin in the 27-24 victory. But they were inept a week later at home against Miami—even with Dan Marino throwing three interceptions, the Pats dug themselves a 24-0 hole by halftime and lost by two touchdowns.

Another poor home performance followed against Seattle, with Dave Krieg carving up the secondary with three second-quarter touchdown passes and New England fell 24-3. The Pats went on to Buffalo, the defending AFC East champ and couldn’t stop Thurman Thomas in a 31-10 loss.

Three straight losses, all decisive, turned up the heat for a visit by the Houston Oilers in Week 5. The Oilers were in the midst of a run of seven straight playoff years with Warren Moon at quarterback. With the season ready to get away early, the Patriot defense stepped up, forced four turnovers, kept Moon at bay and keyed a 23-13 win.

It set up a good opportunity with a road game at lowly Atlanta next and New England took a 15-6 lead into the fourth quarter. But they coughed up ten points, lost the football game and then went to San Francisco and lost to a great 49ers team 37-20.

New England at least played reasonably well against a San Francisco team that had won the Super Bowl in 1988 and would do so again this year. They were within 24-20 after three quarters and not many other teams played the ‘89 Niners much better. But at 2-5, there was no room for moral victories.

The Patriots went on to Indianapolis, where the Colts were in the middle of the playoff race. Grogan played his best game of the year and threw for 355 yards. Tight end Eric Sievers, who finished the year as the team’s most productive receiver, caught seven balls for 113 yards. It took overtime, but New England left Indy with a 23-20 win and still had a pulse as the season hit its halfway point.

FAINT PLAYOFF HOPES FLAME OUT

Once again, the schedule seemed to work in favor of the Patriots—the Jets were having a terrible season and came to Foxboro next. Much like the Atlanta game, it was the perfect opportunity to build on a good win and get some momentum. And much like the Atlanta game, that opportunity was blown.

New England was a (-7.5) favorite, but was helpless against Jets quarterback Ken O’Brien, who threw for 386 yards and hit ten different receivers. The Pats lost 27-26. A week later they came out sleepwalking at home against mediocre New Orleans, lost three fumbles and fell behind 28-0. A stirring comeback closed the margin to 28-24, but it ended there. And with a record of 3-7, so did the Patriots realistic playoff chances.

SALVAGING PRIDE

To their credit, New England showed some pride. Buffalo came to Foxboro, in command of the AFC East race and took a 24-13 lead into the fourth quarter. But with Stephens rushing for 126 yards and the defense collecting six turnovers on the day, the Pats rallied for a 33-24 win. The game started a Buffalo slump that nearly cost them the division title.

New England went west to play the Los Angeles Raiders, another team in a packed wild-card picture. It was close, but three interceptions by Grogan were the difference in a 24-21 loss.

A week later the Pats and Stephens played spoiler again. Indianapolis—an AFC East team prior to the realignment of 2002 made the return trip to Foxboro. Stephens ran for 124 yards and outrushed Colt great Eric Dickerson. New England’s 22-16 win put a big crimp in Indy’s playoff push—a push that ultimately came up one win short.

THREE MORE LOSSES

The final three games of the season were against teams that desperately needed wins for the playoffs, but New England was done winning for the year. A Sunday Night in South Beach didn’t go well, with Marino ripping the Pats secondary for over 300 yards in a 31-10 final. The Pittsburgh Steelers, who ultimately grabbed the final wild-card spot and reached the divisional round of the playoffs, pounded New England on the ground and won 28-10.

Berry’s final game was at home against the Los Angeles Rams, who were in a win-and-you’re-in situation. It was as bitter cold day in Foxboro, (-4) degrees with the windchill, but the Patriots didn’t mail it in. They took a 20-17 lead into the fourth quarter, but were ultimately unable to contain running back Greg Bell, who rushed for over 200 yards and scored the winning touchdown in the 24-20 final.

The Raymond Berry Era was over in New England. Anyone who found fault with the coach for the 5-11 finish in 1989 had a rude awakening coming. The Patriots had three brutal years ahead of them, one with Rod Rust at the helm and two more with Dick MacPherson. Another bad season in 1993 was at least mitigated by the fact Parcells was now on the sidelines and Bledsoe’s career was beginning. It wasn’t until 1994 that winning football returned to Foxboro.

The Rise & Fall Of The 1989 Cincinnati Bengals

, , , , ,

The 1989 Cincinnati Bengals came into the season looking to finish the job, after losing the previous year’s Super Bowl in the final minute to the San Francisco 49ers. Instead, the Bengals went through and up-and-down year that ended up just short of the playoffs.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

Boomer Esiason was coming off his MVP season of 1988 and while he didn’t match that career year, Boomer was still pretty good in 1989. His 28-11 TD/INT ratio was solid by the standards of the time and he earned another Pro Bowl appearance.

The running game was potent—even though celebrated 1988 rookie Ickey Woods only played two games and was on his way out of the league and into a 21st-century future doing Geico commercials, the Bengals still had an outstanding offensive line.

Anthony Munoz was a future Hall of Famer at left tackle and still playing at a Pro Bowl level at age 31. Max Montoya gave Cincy another Pro Bowler at right guard. James Brooks ran behind this offensive line to the tune of a 1,200-yard season and averaged better than five yards a pop.

Esiason had no shortage of targets—tight end Rodney Holman was a Pro Bowler. Tim McGee could stretch the field and averaged better than 18 yards-per-catch. Eddie Brown caught over 50 balls and was a steady threat all year. Cincinnati’s offense was orchestrated by head coach Sam Wyche, a product of the Bill Walsh coaching tree and coordinator Bruce Coslet, a future head coach himself. And they finished fourth in the league in scoring.

So if the offense was still playing at a high level, the defense must have been the cause of the team’s fall, right? Wrong. They may have had only one Pro Bowler—strong safety David Fulcher who picked off eight passes—but they were coordinated by the great Dick LeBeau and finished seventh in scoring defense. Yet in spite of this well-balanced team, the final record did not match the composite sum of the parts.

WINDY CITY WAR

The season kicked off in Chicago’s Soldier Field with a highly anticipated game in the early afternoon TV window. The Bears had reached the playoffs each of the last five years under Mike Ditka, including an NFC Championship Game appearance in 1988. The Week 1 game was seen as a possible Super Bowl preview and it played out just like that.

Defenses were both tough and the Bengals held a 14-10 lead into the fourth quarter. But they couldn’t contain Chicago running back Neal Anderson, who rolled for 146 yards. Eventually, the Bears got a 20-yard touchdown pass from Mike Tomczak, a veteran product of Ohio State, and Cincinnati lost 17-14.

The Bears’ season would follow a similar trajectory to that of the Bengals—high expectations, a nice start, but then faltering down the stretch. Actually, that’s a bit unfair to Cincy, as Chicago completely collapsed in the second half. But in the moment, a close Week 1 loss on the road in the Windy City was no reason for alarm.

TAKING COMMAND

Cincinnati immediately asserted itself against divisional competition. The next four weeks included three games against AFC Central rivals—a division that at the time included Pittsburgh, Cleveland and the Houston Oilers (the organizational forerunner of the Tennessee Titans). There was also a game with Kansas City, who had an old rival in charge—Marty Schottenheimer had been chased out of Cleveland following the 1988 season and would rebuild the Chiefs into a playoff contender for this season.

The Bengals won all four games. A 113-yard performance from Brooks keyed a big rushing advantage over Pittsburgh in an easy 41-10 win. The running game dominated again on the Monday Night stage in Cleveland—Brooks and Eric Thomas shared the load, the Bengals outrushed the Browns 187-92 and won the football game 21-14.

A narrow escape followed in Kansas City—after trailing 17-7, the Cincinnati comeback was keyed by a 22-yard fumble return by linebacker Leon White and the Bengals won 21-17. The win streak closed with another big game by Brooks against the Steelers. The running back ran for 127 yards in a 26-16 win.

With a 4-1 record, the Bengals were atop the AFC Central and had picked up where they left off. But they would not win consecutive games the rest of the season.

STUMBLING FOR SEVEN WEEKS

It wasn’t that the schedule over the next seven weeks was particularly brutal. In what proved to be a very balanced AFC, it was no cakewalk—Miami and Indianapolis, who each came to Riverfront Stadium, contended for the playoffs to the final week of the season. So did the Raiders, whom Cincinnati visited in what was then the Silver-n-Black’s home at Los Angeles Coliseum. Road games against Buffalo and Houston were against teams that did make the postseason.

On the flip side…the very balance of the AFC meant that none of those teams finished better than 9-7. But the Bengals lost all five games. Only a couple games against NFC also-rans in Detroit and Tampa Bay saved this stretch of the season from being a complete washout.

Cincinnati was better than a touchdown favorite at home against Miami in mid-October and led 13-3 at the half. They couldn’t stop Dolphin wide receiver Mark Duper though and lost 20-13. The run defense failed them the following week against the Colts, with future Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson going for 152 yards and the Bengals again letting a second half lead slip, this time losing 23-12.

A third straight home game, this one against the Buccaneers, provided some relief. Esiason unleashed, throwing five touchdown passes, while Brooks ran for 131 yards. A 56-23 rout temporarily restored some order. But it didn’t last—against the Raiders, the Cincy defense allowed two huge plays to Bo Jackson—an 92-yard TD run and 84-yard catch and run for a score. With Esiason out for this game, backup Erik Wilhelm couldn’t generate any offense in the 28-7 loss.

There was real urgency as Cincinnati returned to Monday Night Football in a visit to Houston. After a scoreless first quarter, Brooks ripped off a 58-yard touchdown run. The Bengals led 14-7 at half, but giving up a defensive touchdown kept the game closer than it needed to be.

Houston began moving the ball in the second half, but the Cincinnati defense repeatedly forced field goals, so they trailed only 16-14. Esiason then hit Holman on a 73-yard touchdown pass. Oiler quarterback Warren Moon countered with a TD throw of his own. The teams traded field goals. Houston finally got the last word, with a 28-yard field goal that won the game 26-24.

Cincinnati had played well—Brooks ran for 141 yards, Esiason finished 11/19 for 209 and defensive back Eric Thomas sacked Moon twice. But giving away the free touchdown in the first half kept the downward spiral going.

The visit from the lowly Lions lifted everyone’s spirits—Boomer was razor-sharp, going 30/39 for 399 yards, with McGee and his eleven catches for nearly 200 yards doing the bulk of the damage. The result was an easy 42-7 win. But a visit to Buffalo—whom Cincinnati had defeated in the previous year’s AFC Championship Game—brought the team back down to earth.

While Brooks ran well, gaining 105 yards, the Bengal defense did not stop the run. A tag-team of Thurman Thomas and Larry Kinnebrew led the way for Buffalo to win 24-7.

The loss dropped Cincinnati to 6-6, but there was still hope. Cleveland led the AFC Central at 7-4-1 and there was still a head-to-head game ahead. The Bengals would also play the Oilers, who were in one of the two wild-card spots, at 7-5. In fact, no wild-card hopeful had a record better than 7-5. Cincinnati still controlled its own fate.

BIG DIVISION WINS

The games with the Browns and Oilers were on December 3 and December 17 respectively, and the Bengals were ready. With the winds gusting in Cleveland and no one really able to play well, Cincinnati found a way. Esiason threw third-quarter touchdown passes from 38 yards to McGee, nine yards to Holman and the Bengals broke open a close game, winning 21-0.

In a must-win game at home against Houston, to say Cincinnati was ready understates the case—Esiason hit Brown for touchdown passes of 22 yards and 35 yards in the first quarter and the Bengals were quickly on top 21-0. It was 31-zip by half. The Oilers didn’t score until the scoreboard read 52-0 and the final was a shocking 61-7.

Those two wins ensured that Cincinnati would control its playoff fate when they played the final Monday Night game of the season in Minnesota on Christmas Night. But in between the two divisional rivals was a bad letdown loss—the Seattle Seahawks had a mediocre team in 1989. In spite of the Bengals being a (-10) home favorite and getting a Pick-6 from Eric Thomas, they lost 24-17.

The result of the loss was that Cincinnati was out of the division title picture—that would be won by Cleveland in a Saturday night prime-time game in Houston on December 23. And it also meant the Bengals had to get one more win against an opponent that was just as desperate.

CHRISTMAS FINALE

In the days before the final game of the season was a flexed game on Sunday Night chosen just prior to the last week, you had to hope for the best with the MNF finale. ABC couldn’t have scripted this one any better—Cincinnati and Minnesota were both playing win-or-go-home games. Pittsburgh and Green Bay were each tuned in, with their own playoff fates in the balance. Both the Bengals and Vikings had opened the season with Super Bowl expectations and now had to play for their lives in a de facto playoff game.

Cincinnati got off to a horrible start. They dug themselves a 19-0 hole by halftime, with the only consolation being that Minnesota had settled four times for field goals, two of them from in close. Esiason threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Brown to make it a game. The Vikings drove again and again settled for a short field goal. Esiason answered with a 65-yard strike to Holman and the lead was cut to 22-14 going into the fourth quarter.

Boomer kept coming—though he would throw three interceptions on this night, he also went 31/54 for 367 yards. And he threw his third TD pass from 18 yards out to Craig Taylor. The two-point conversion was still several years into the future though, so Cincinnati could only kick the extra point and make it 22-21.

The decisive play came when Minnesota faced fourth-and-goal from the one late in the game. Viking coach Jerry Burns, tired of settling for field goals, rolled the dice to try and clinch the game. A play-action toss to the tight end, Brent Novoselsky, scored the touchdown that sealed the 29-21 final and sealed the Bengals’ fate.

Sam Wyche’s time in Cincinnati wasn’t done—he and Esiason would get the team back to the playoffs in 1990 and advance to the divisional round. But that was it. Wyche was fired following a collapse in 1991 and Esiason was traded to the Jets two years later. The franchise would not reach the postseason until Marvin Lewis came to town in 2005 and still has not won a playoff game since 1990. It’s fair to say the Cincinnati Bengals have never really recovered from the midseason fade in 1989.

Load More