1971 Cincinnati Bengals

[Music] cincinnati's riverfront stadium was the home of high hopes when the bengals opened their 1971 season cincinnati was coming off the strongest season in the team's four year history as the bengals had captured the afc's central division title in 1970 spurred on by five pre-season wins the loyal bengal followers jammed into riverfront stadium anticipating a season filled with excitement and victory [Music] the air was alive with the smell of a second championship as the bengals fielded the strongest team in their history and in cincinnati the fans the players and head coach paul brown could hardly wait for the opening of the 1971 season but it was one of the longest years in coach paul brown's long career 1971 was a year of frustration and pain as cincinnati was riddled by injuries despite a losing season the bengals never stopped battling and displayed the pride and spirit that have characterized their swift rise in the world of pro football [Music] riverfront stadium was the scene for the bengals opening game against the philadelphia eagles and cincinnati opened the season in devastating style defensive tackle mike reed number 74 led the assault on eagle quarterbacks as he personally sacked the passer four times [Music] while reed was playing a sunday sonata on the quarterback's head burge carter number 11 plucked the birds clean with three touchdown passes won a 90-yard shot to speedy thomas the longest pass play in bengal history [Music] while carter shined as a passer number 19 essex johnson was equally brilliant as a runner streaking 68 yards to a touchdown the 37 to 14 romp was the bengals eighth straight victory over a two-year period and gave every indication that cincinnati would successfully defend its divisional crown in the second game against the pittsburgh steelers the bengals continue their outstanding defensive play as number 20 lamar parishes theft put cincinnati on the board early but in this game the bengals razzle dazzle offense was rarely heard from despite another fine performance by verge carter the bengals managed only 28 yards rushing and the steelers derailed the orange and white express 21 to 10. the loss snapped an eight-game regular season win streak for cincinnati the bengals began a downhill slide that would not end until two months later in the third game against green bay the bengal offense was again sluggish and the pack jumped to a quick 10 to nothing lead it was up to the bengal defense to get cincinnati back in the game and number 20 lamar parish led the charge with a 65-yard interception [Music] but the game against the packers was a costly one not only did they lose the game they lost their quarterback burge carter suffered a dislocated shoulder and the burden now fell on the inexperienced shoulders of rookie ken anderson number 14. the rookie was up to the test anderson led the bengals on a 69-yard scoring drive that was climaxed by a touchdown pass to eric crabtree to put the bengals within three points but they would get no further and lost 20-17 the defeat hurt but the loss of safety ken dyer and quarterback burge carter heard even more carter had been the leader of the bengal offense in on the field projection of the paul brown philosophy an elusive runner and pinpoint passer carter was on his way to his finest season when the injury struck but now carter was gone and in his place was ken anderson a raw rookie from tiny augustana college anderson got his first start against the miami dolphins and showed he had no fear of the big time as he pumped the touchdown pass to bob trumpy number 84. but this touchdown and a pair of horse mullman field goals were all a cincinnati scoring a rash of bengal mistakes and the bombing of miami's bob griese resulted in a third straight defeat and the 23-13 loss came at the hands of don shula a former player under paul brown [Music] in the season's fifth game cincinnati met the cleveland browns to decide the championship of ohio and the bengals played one of the finest games in their history [Music] rookie ken anderson was passing like a wily veteran and veterans like number 30 jess phillips were running with the speed and vitality of rookies since the birth of the bengals jess phillips has been one of the key performers and his effort is worth five from any bengal fan another mainstay in the bengals history has been paul robinson number 18 and against cleveland the cactus comet ran with the flashing strides that brought him a rushing title in his rookie year [Music] in this game the bengals opened all the gates and out came number 19 essex johnson would become mr big play for cincinnati johnson scored twice against the browns once on a three-yard run and again on an amazing 49-yard jaunt through the cleveland defense johnson score put the bengals on top 24-13 but then an all-too-familiar trend appeared once more again the bengals had completely outplayed an opponent only to be cut down by mistakes and bad breaks cleveland took advantage of the errors and two bo scott touchdowns gave the browns a slim 27-24 victory [Music] in oakland against the powerful raiders the hard luck trend continued [Music] once again essex johnson's freewheeling strides put points on the scoreboard [Music] again rookie ken anderson displayed the poise of an all-pro despite a painful bruised hip while the bengals pinned their hopes on a raw 22 year old rookie the raiders wrote a 44 year old arm to victory number 16 george blanda led a come from behind raider effort that left cincinnati would defeat number five and the bengals losing streak would stretch to seven with losses to houston and atlanta the roar of the bengal had gone silent defeat had left its painful mark a season filled with high hopes had suddenly become a nightmare the bengals had often played well but when a team falls beneath a losing hex nothing seems to go right [Music] passes are dropped kickoffs are fumbled and the players begin to fight themselves as well as their opponents [Music] for the bengals it had often been a matter of inches or seconds or points but nothing can ease the pain of losing [Music] injuries had particularly ravaged the quarterback position but against denver bengal fans rolled out the welcome mat for burge carter returning to action for the first time [Music] carter's presence added instant excitement to the cincinnati attack as he combined with number 88 bruce coslett on a 71-yard scoring play the big play was back in the cincinnati attack and everyone sensed that the bengals were back in winning form rookies like number 33 fred willis had been making important contributions and now the results began to show willis and doug dressler had become the bengals big backs who supplied the power and essex johnson number 19 was the speed burner who came off the bench to light the fire of victory the 24 to 10 victory snapped a seven-game losing streak and brought to mind 1970 when the bengals lost six straight only to rebound and win a division title although they had a 2-7 record the bengals were incredibly still within two games of the division leaders cleveland and pittsburgh against houston cincinnati unleashed all the frustration of a previous loss to the oilers as the bengals pumped the oil well dry [Music] while the defense left the oilers scattered all over the field the cincinnati offense was a smooth running ground-eating first down [Music] machine [Music] number 33 rookie fred willis again ran with all the subtlety of a battering ram as he hammered over for two scores and carter smoked the oilers out of the park with passing to receivers like chip myers and bruce koslin and another touchdown by bob trumpy number 84 gave the bengals their second victory in a row with the 28 to 13 wins cincinnati was hitting full stride and when the san diego chargers ventured into the tigers lair they were eaten alive against the chargers cincinnati staged one of their finest offensive shows as they set six club records fred willis continued his impressive running by slamming over for two touchdowns while willis paced the ground game carter led a supercharged passing attack the bengal offense was a study in precision a blackboard diagram that had come to light while the offense was overwhelming the defense was equally devastating as they recorded their first shutout in bengal history number 58 linebacker al beauchamp was a defensive terror as he picked off two san diego passes one for a touchdown that highlighted victory number four [Music] the bengals had now won three straight they had rekindled the optimism that marked the opening of the season and a key to the team's success had been the savage play of the defense in only his second year mike reed number 74 has become perhaps the quickest defensive tackle in football and he was named to the all afc team [Music] so [Music] on the other side of the line was number 79 steve chamozak a 260 pound wall of muscle his defensive end position came big royce berry number 82 one tough hombre from texas at the other defensive end was number 70 ron carpenter who hammers ball carriers as if they were punching bags [Music] at middle linebacker was number 66 bill bergey one of the best young linebackers in football [Music] from the left side came swift and rugged al beauchamp number 58 and from the right ken avery number 51 a sticker [Music] a key to any successful defense is the secondary and the bengals have one of the best at cornerback was number 13 ken riley who possesses the tools of greatness [Music] and safety was second year man sandy dirko number 29. players like fletcher smith and neal craig were also key performers but the star of the defensive backfield was all pro cornerback lamar parish number 20. [Music] perish combines the deft hands of a midnight burglar with the blazing speed of a sprinter and his ability to run with a football made a kick return a spectacle of excitement [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Applause] [Music] the bengals were riding a three-game victory wave but in cleveland paul brown's hopes were shattered despite a four and seven record cincinnati still had a shot at the central division title and bengal runners like number 33 fred willis and number 44 doug dressler romped all over the brown while willis and dressler wore down the browns with sheer power number 19 essex johnson dazzled them with his assortment of swivel hip moves [Music] with guard pat matson leading the way fred willis dove into the end zone for another touchdown and essex johnson took off on an 86-yard touchdown john several times it looked like the bengals had the game won but this game summed up all the frustrations of a strange season time and time again the bengals outhustled and out-muscled an opponent only to see victory slip through their hands in what seemed like a nightmare [Music] [Music] for the second time cleveland escaped with a narrow victory the 31-27 bengal loss was followed by defeats at the hands of the pittsburgh steelers and new york jets and finally the long season was over for paul brown 1971 was one of the most difficult years in his 37 year career but there had been satisfying developments young running backs doug dressler and rookie fred willis have displayed the sturdy legwork that championships are built on [Music] willis was a fourth round draft pick from boston college who used his power packed 215 pound body to become the bengals leading rusher in [Music] 1971. [Music] willis was one of several rookies who immediately fit into paul brown's plan for the future for first year quarterback kenny anderson 1971 had been a year of learning paul brown had hoped to bring anderson along slowly but injuries forced him into a starting role early in the season and the rookies soon found out what pro football is all about at 62 and 202 pounds anderson is big enough to absorb the punishment and he shook off the pounding to display the skills that should produce many future victories anderson is a gifted young quarterback who can run as well as throw but it's his passing ability that should light up the scoreboard for many years to come [Music] despite a losing season there were many things to cheer about one of them was the booming punts of dave lewis who successfully defended his putting crown despite a 4-10 record the bengals never gave up and the special teams reflected this attitude [Music] players like larry eli bill peterson nick roman willie jones and ron lamb never let up and place kicker horse muleman again added his accurate toe guard pat matson was particularly outstanding and along with captain bob johnson guy dennis howard fest vernon holland steve lawson rufus mays and ernie wright the offensive line left many opponents with big headaches for coach paul brown and the cincinnati bengals 1971 was over but the future bears happiness for the people of cincinnati [Music] in 1972 a healthy bengal team will again charge forward running passing and tackling with all the fury of old next year a bumper crop of rookies will join the team and the mastermind of paul brown will again try to mold the pieces together to make every sunday a day of victory in cincinnati in 1972 cincinnati fans will again pack riverfront stadium to witness another exciting chapter in the legend of the cincinnati bengals [Music] you

Channel: Grey Beard

Views: 984

Rating: 4.8666668 out of 5

Keywords: NFL Films, Steve Sabol, Ed Sabol, Cincinnati Bengals, Paul Brown, Ken Anderson, Virgil Carter, Riverfront Stadium, Bob Trumpy, Bruce Coslet

Id: _uf60__9-Fw

Length: 24min 8sec (1448 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 22 2020