Willie Shelby's Kick Return Clinches Championship for 76 Bengals

Cincinnati fought back from the loser's bracket to win 5 straight and steal the championship form the 1991 Eagles. The Bengals' offense did nothing most of the game. Their first TD came at the close of the first half on a 19 yard scoring strike from Kenny Anderson (7-18-95) to Isaac Curtis (3-65-1) on a play which would have ended the half had it not been in the end zone. Cincy actually began that drive just intending torun out the clock to end the half and avoid a turnover. Ten plays and 80yards later they had a 10-6 lead.

Philly had ripped off a beautiful 14 play, 74 yard drive just prior to that (and folks you don't know how hard that was to do with these defenses). Unfortunately a 3rd and goal play from the 1 ended in a sackand the Eagles were forced to settle for a FG.

The second half was scoreless until a 40 yard FG by Roger Ruzek with4:10 to play moved the Eagles to within a point, 10-9. The Eagles coach was counting on his defense to stop the Bengals when he elected to kick the FG on 4th and 1. Since Cincy had only ten first downs all game the decision seemed quite logical. Philly didn't count on Wilie Shelby returning the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for the score and a 17-9 lead.

Four minutes remained and a TD and 2 point try would force an overtime.It was not to be. Philly made one first down then failed on a 4th and 2. Archie Griffin bolted off tackle for a 44 yard TD on the Bengals first play after the change of possession to make the final score a very unrepresentative 24-9. Philly's last possession ended with Jeff Kemp buried under Coy Bacon.

This was an ugly game and I was EXTREMELY fortunate to win it. Bill dominated TOP 38:37 to 21:23. The Eagles had 238 yards to 202 for Cincy.There were also 17 penalties, 9 against Philly. Each team turned theball over twice. I lucked out in the first game when Anderson completed 30+ yard TD pass with 2 secs to play and won this one on kick return.I have to give Bill credit as he was very gracious in defeat. Oh yea, I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that I was fortunate to face Jeff Kemp twice in these games instead of the better Jim McMahon.Finally, let's not forget Roy Green's premature celebration in the first game which changed a 70+ yard TD for Philly into a touchback for Cincy

-contributed by Wayne Poniewaz-

'76-Bengals rally to force rematch vs '91-Eagles for Championship

This is football the way it was meant to be played. Two tough defenses facing some average offenses. Cincy had medium pass ratings in the low30s while Philly's were in the low 40s. Philly had single digit running ratings - mid single digits. No one might ever score.The Bengals actually moved into Philly territory 4 times in the first quarter, they were short drives started with good field position, but they did get into Philly territory. The result was zero points for the Bengals. meanwhile Midway through the quarter Philly struck with a medium pass that speedster Roy Green broke for a big gain - past the 50,the 40..he's gone. The Cincy coach was probably wondering how he would ever even score 7 points to match this. Then a miracle happened...Green was celebrating early and Tommy Casanova caught up from behind and punched the ball away ...into the end zone for a touch back. It was still 0-0. That's how the first quarter ended.Philly did manage a short drive and FG midway through the 2nd quarter.Freak play number 2 happened later in the quarter. Cincy punted from their own 20 and Rod Harris caught it a t midfield and returned it 26yards to the 24...then fumbled...but Eric Allen recovered for Philly and rambled the last 24 yards for the score and a 10-0 lead.Cincy took advantage of a fumble early in the second half as they"drove" 39 yards to make it 10-7. Philly came back with a FG, 13-7.Cincy kicked a 24 yard FG late in the 3rd and it was now 13-10. Fast forward to late in the 4th quarter with teh score still 13-10.After a short punt and nice return the Bengals start at their own 48with 4:51 to play. Fals start makes it 1st and 15. Two runs produce afirst down. Two more runs produce zero yards. A screen pas goes incomplete. 4th and 10 at the Philly 41 with 1:51 to play. Another screen yields a measurement...first down. Anderson then hits Curtis for19 yards. This is looking like OT and a FG. Griffin runs for 3 and fumbles. Philly recovers. Game, set and match. Well, maybe not. 52 secs remain and Cincy has all their TOs. A kneel and a couple of runs yield little. Philly must punt and a 14 yard return by Casanova means Cincy takes over at the 34. Sixteen seconds remain. The first pass is incomplete..a medium pass was incomplete on a dice roll of15, that's the kind of defense that was being played in this game. Anderson drops back again and sees Chip Myers in single coverage on a medium pass. Myers has it...he's free...20...10...touchdown! Cincy scores with 2 secs to play to win 17-13. Rematch is set for Monday morning at 11 am.
-contributed by Wayne Poniewaz-

Elimination Bracket Finals: '76-CIN 24, '86-MIA 17

76 Cincy defeats 86 Miami, 24-17. THis was a rematch of a winner's bracket game won by Miami 24-21. THis game hinged on a few big plays.The first came right near the end of the first half with Miami trailing7-3. They went for it on 4th and 2 inside the Cincy 10 yard line and failed to convert. The second key play game early in the 4t quarter with Miami 17-10. Cincy had a similar 4th and 2 from the 3 but Boobie Clark(14-82) pushed it in for the score. The 3rd key play when Cincy had the ball on 1st and 10 at their own 26 with just 3:51 to play. They had just completed a 15 yard pass to get out of a deep hole. Miami played aggressive going for the pick and Anderson found Trumpy on a medium-short pass for 47 yards. It was a good time to get lucky. From the 27yard line Cincy just ground down the clock until Clark took it in from 7yards out for his 3rd TD with 25 secs to play.

Marino had a nice day (18-34-253 1 int) but got no help from his ground game (18-50). Cincy rushed 38 times for 163 yards and while that sounds like a lot, the Miami defensive coordinator did a great job compensating for the poor Dolphin run D.

Cincy must now beat 91 Philly twice. I look at the game already and this one is going to be LOW scoring unless someone gets good field position off some turnovers.

-contributed by Wayne Poniewaz-

The wind and '76-Cincy blows away '05-SD

The 2005 Chargers coached by Mark Miller came to Cincy (1976) andmiserable weather. The Bengals coach (Wayne Poniewaz) was ecstatic whenhe saw the forecast: 24 mph winds and 22*. I knew it would help to slowdown the SD passing offense. The Chargers took a 7-3 lead in the leadand in the first quarter then it completely unraveled in the second.Cincy scored a TD on a drive which started in the 1st quarter then theBengals too advantage of 3 Charger turnovers (two picks and a fumble ona sack) to score 16 more points. That made it 26-7 at the half and itwasn't likely San Diego would be able to generate the kind of offenseneeded to come back. They didn't. The only score was a 54 interceptionreturn by Marvin Cobb. Final: 30-7 Cincy.All told the Chargers committed 8 turnovers in the game. The generatedjust 208 yards of total offense. Brees was 11-21 for 90 yards with 4picks. Tomlinson ran for 97 yards on 21 carries but a lot of that wasagainst Cincy pass defenses in the second half. Cincy only had 215 yardsbut committed just 2 turnovers. Anderson was 6-16 for 107 yards andthey ran 37 times for 108 yards.As Mark commented, those southern California boys just couldn't handlethe weather.Cincy moves on to face 86 Miami in a rematch won 24-21 by the Dolphins. -contributed by Wayne Poniewaz-

'76-CIN eliminates '67-BAL

The 76 Bengals were fortunate they missed 67 Baltimore at the start of the tournament but they didn't avoid them for long. This tourney is coming down to the wire and the loser of this one goes home. There's a simple story line in this one. The Bengals were able to run the football(44-206) while the Colts could not (16-65). That meant over 38 minutesof possession time. It also meant Cincy could sit back on the pass. That meant a sub-par game for Unitas: 13-26 for 139 includuing four big picks. The last one came in the 4th quarter with Cincy leading 14-7. It was returned to the Baltimore 9 and Anderson (11-22-120) found Curtis onthe first play from scrimmage for a huge 21-7 lead. That's how it ended.

My hats off to Stu for staying remarkably calm in a game where very little went his way. He had two big intentional grounding calls go against him, 4 picks, a blocked FG at the end of the half when he was leading 7-6, a missed FG from 22 yards in the 3rd quarter, 3 fumbles by Cincy but 2 were recovered by Cncy, and well, little in the way of good dice rolls. I was fortunate to advance in this one.

Round 4: '02 Chiefs Skate by '91 Niners in Slugfest

SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- The powerful '91 49'ers welcomed the '02 Chiefs to Candlestick Park in a NPT elimination game in what promised to be a night of offensive fireworks. It did not disappoint. KC marched 56 yards in 7 plays on the opening possession. The 'Niners responded with a 12-play, 86-yard drive to make it 7-7. KC moved 53 yards to the SF 22, but early in the 2Q Green was picked off on a flare pass (INT odds 102, rolled a 100). Amazingly, KC held and forced a punt.

KC them covered 70 yards in 7 plays, as Green hit Gonzalez on a 37-yard slant for a 14-7 lead midway through the 2Q. The game then got really, really bizarre. SF committed a penalty on the KO return and took over on its 9. Facing 4th and 4 at its 15, the 'Niners went for it, and Young's medium-long pass to Carter was broken up. However, after failing to be stopped by anything but a turnover on its first three possessions, KC could not capitalize on the great field position. Three plays netted eight yards, and on 4th and 2 at the 7, KC faked the field goal, but Collins was nailed for a loss. The third bizarre possession in a row then transpired as the 'Niners faked a punt from their own 32, and the pass was incomplete. With 1:53 left in the half, KC covered 32 yards for the TD, and it was 21-7 KC at the half. The Chiefs were simply shocked that they had held SF to 7 first-half points and under 150 yards. But they knew it would be tough to repeat that success in the second half.

How right they were. SF's implosion continued at the start of the 3Q, as the 'Niners fumbled it away on their third play at their own 9. Green immediately found Hall for the TD, and it was a 28-7 game early in the 3Q. SF only needed 7 plays to cover 69 yards and make it 28-14 on Keith Henderson's run. Trent Green was shaken up on the next KC play, and the unstoppable Todd Collins came on and directed an 80-yard drive to paydirt, making it 34-14 midway through the 3Q as the PAT was deflected. Young hit Henderson for 29 on the next drive, that covered 80 yards in 7 plays and found Henderson running it in again to make it 34-21 late in the 3Q. Dante Hall finally earned his money in this tourney by returning the kickoff 99 yards for a TD. The Chiefs converted the 2-pointer to make it 42-21.

SF methodically marched 77 yards on 11 plays to make it 42-28 with 12:40 to play. KC then ate up five minutes of clock in going 80 yards for a TD to make it 49-28. KC faced 4th and 1 at the SF 34, and instead of trying the long FG, they gambled, and Green hit Priest Holmes on a slant that resulted in a 34-yard TD against the full blitz. 7:01 rewained as SF was still 3 TDs away. 7 minutes is a Louisiana lifetime to the 'Niners. KC got its hopes up when the 'Niners took almost 4 minutes to go 49 yards and score. For some reason, SF went for two and got it, making it 49-36 with 3:14 to go. Still, KC figured to be able to eat up enough clock to hang on to the 2-TD lead. No dice. SF converted the onsides kickoff at the SF 46. It took a full two plays for SF to score, with Young hitting Rice for 35 and Taylor for 19. It was 49-43, and a full 2:57 remained. The next onsides kickoff failed and KC took over at the SF 45. Against the run defense, Green looked to hit short passses, but failed on three in a row, consuming only :22. KC punted to the SF 10 and fans covered their eyes.

SF had all three timeouts. A holding penalty pushed SF back to the five. With fatigued receivers making double-coverage slightly easier, Young missed on a play-action bomb to Rice. Carter picked up 10 yards on a draw to the 15. young hit Carter on a flare for 13 to the 28 with 1:17 to go. Young then was sacked for an 11-yard loss to the 17 as SF used its first timeout with 1:07 to play. Young found Carter for 17, but Carter fumbled. Taylor picked it up for SF and lost a yard. 3rd and 5 at the SF with :58 left. Young went medium-long to Rice, incomplete. Penalty on SF for holding. KC declined, making it 4th and 5 with :51 left. Biggest play of the game. Young looked medium-long, but the double-covered Taylor could not haul it in, and KC held on for the wild win.

-contributed by Chris Howell-

Round 4: MVP's

Round 4 had the Winner's bracket championship game and 2 elimination games:

OFFENSE	DEFENSE	Special Teams
Steve Young	Reggie White	Dante Hall
1991-SF	1991-PHI	2002-KC
26-38-376-3td	1 sack / 2 FF's	KR 3-118-td