January 6, 1991: The last playoff win by the Cincinnati Bengals. The last season before Mike Brown inherited his father’s franchise and the beginning of the “Lost Decade” or if you prefer, the “Dark Ages.”
Let’s revisit the glory days. The blowout win against the Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans) in the 1991 playoff match up at Riverfront Stadium. The 41-14 victory was the last sweet taste of a playoff victory by this franchise.
The Oilers had the ball for less than five minutes in the first half and were outgained by the Bengals, 222 yards to 36. 30 of Houston’s yards came on the last play of the first half. The Oilers didn’t have a first down until the Bengals were ahead 20-0. Boomer Esiason was 14-20 for 150 yards with two touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown.
“We really had a great day,” Wyche said. “We had one of those days that don’t come along very often. This is an unexplainable thing. . . . There’s no magic to it.”
Cincy went on to lose 20-10 in the next round against the then (12-4) Los Angeles Raiders. To this day, the Bengals have never won a playoff game on the road.
They have another crack at it this Saturday against the Houston Texans (12-4) at Reliant Stadium. The Bengals will be looking for some kind of magic to earn their first road victory and give the city of Cincinnati something to cheer about. Imagine the chaos in the streets around 8:00pm on Saturday if they pull out a win…
