More Than Competitive-1972 Cincinnati Bengals

hi i'm pat sumrall with exciting highlights of the last football season brought to you by the united states army and the national football league we're going to give you a close-up look at some of the teams and some of the plays and some of the players that kept millions of fans glued to their tv sets you're going to see what makes football a great game it is superb individual effort teamwork spontaneous action plus the ability to spot the brakes and take advantage of them so make yourself comfortable and let's go to the game [Music] 1972 marked the fifth season of the cincinnati bengals [Applause] born out of expansion in 1968 under the leadership of head coach paul brown the bengals played in tiny nippert stadium and suffered typical expansion blues [Music] but the nucleus of a good team was present in that first season the bengals won three games and embarked on a trail that would lead them to the most successful first five years of any expansion team in nfl [Music] history [Music] in 1970 the bengals moved to a new home site the riverfront stadium did not remove the stigma of expansion and the bengals lost six of their first seven games but the bitter streak toughened the team the young defense matured and with the offense in full bloom the bengals won their last seven games in the afc central division title [Music] in 1971 this young team was so bright a future this young team that had won a championship and only its third year of existence saw its fourth season ruined by a plague of injuries [Music] paul brown had said in five seasons i hope to make this team competitive and in 1972 the bengals fifth season they answered all questions concerning their 71 swoon they made good paul brown's word as they narrowly missed their second playoff season as they had been throughout their history the cincinnati bengals were more than competitive in my job i fly a lot of american tours to europe but you know they always have one complaint they wish they could spend more time there but this time my passengers won't have that complaint because they're going to spend a full 16 months in europe they were the united states army hello hello thank you and they taking advantage of the army's brand new european enlistment option if you enlist now for three years in armor artillery or infantry and successfully complete a four-month training program you're off to europe for at least 16 months see your nearest army representative for further information about a complete tour of duty under the new european enlistment option if you'd like to see europe as few tourists do today's army wants to join you call 800 243 6000 toll-free for your nearest army representative on opening day the bengals traveled to new england and rained on the sunshine patriots while new england runners were held to just 54 yards bengal backs pierced the patriots for 246 yards [Music] quarterback ken anderson completed 10 of 15 passes and cincinnati convinced 31-7 [Music] the following week the bengals and steelers slugged it out in a defensive struggle [Music] this time the bengals yielded but 74 yards rushing and five horse movement field goals led cincinnati to a 15-10 victory [Music] but in the joy of the win over pittsburgh a curious note was struck though the bengals had beaten the steelers they had failed to score a touchdown the next week the end zone remained inaccessible and the cleveland browns reaped the benefits of eight straight bengal touchdownless quarters [Music] the streak reached nine quarters the following week against denver as brown's bengals fell behind the broncos 10 to nothing [Music] finally rookie safety tommy casanova shook the bengals out of their lethargy a 37-yard punt return set up the bengals first touchdown in three weeks and later kazanova scored his first professional touchdown with a 66-yard return [Music] on defense the bengals gave up only 37 yards passing and tied a club record with six sacks of quarterbacks tackle mike reed number 74 was credited with three individual sacks as the bengals won their third game of the year [Music] the following week cincinnati continued its assault on rival quarterbacks against the chiefs the bengals compiled six more sacks and mike reed got five of them [Music] two interceptions in the fourth quarter one by doug adams number 52 filling in for the injured bill bergy set up the bengal go ahead points [Music] but the bengals would face one more test late in the fourth quarter with a precarious seven point lead the bengals faced four thrusts from their own eight number 23 rookie bernard jackson's great play on fourth down capped a clutch defensive performance in the past two games all pro tackle mike reed had reached rival quarterbacks eight times after five games the bengals now led the league in defense joining reed on the line are tackles steve chamozak number 79 number 70 ron carpenter number 80 ken johnson and starting defensive ends royce berry number 82 captain of the defense and number 83 sherman white the bengals number one draft pick for 1972 six men none with more than six years experience who reached enemy quarterbacks 38 times in 1972 [Music] backing up the line is more youth number 66 middle linebacker bill bergie completed his fourth season [Music] number 58 al beauchamp is only in his fifth season [Music] number 51 ken avery is the veteran and he's only been a pro for six seasons [Music] the three backup linebackers are jim leclaire bill peterson and ron pritchard number 60 again more you when tommy cassanova was still available in the second round of the draft the bengals had a steal he tied for team leadership and interceptions and had a knack of being in the right place at the right time casanova and number one pick sherman white gave the bengals two defensive starters out of the 72 draft another rookie bernard jackson number 23 shared duty with starter ken riley the veteran of the backfield with four years experience safety neil craig number 34 is only a sophomore ably backed up by experienced ernie kellerman finally there's lamar parish number 20 in his third season of bringing excitement to bengal fans an accomplished defender parrish also likes to run and he and kaznov are ranked in the top five in the afc and punt returns to give the bengals two of pro football's most exciting return [Music] with their record at four and one the bengals traveled to los angeles and met disaster they trailed 12 to nothing and then lost anderson to injury [Music] but the bengals are fortunate in having a good backup quarterback in verge carter and he brought the bengals back to tie [Music] three more times carter drove the bengals inside the 30 but mullman missed three times and the bengals lost on a last second ram field goal 15 to 12. [Music] the houston orders became the sixth team in seven games to get one touchdown or less as the bengals defense continued to lead the league but this was to be a day of offense as anderson returned and completed 20 of 28 passes the bengals also ground out 244 yards rushing and starting running backs doug dressler number 44 and essex johnson number 19 each got over 100 yards [Music] anderson led the team to over 400 yards total offense and a club record 29 first downs the bengal offense was back in business paul brown had built a powerful offense a kicking game of hunter dave lewis number 15 and place kicker horst mullman number 16. a line of center bob johnson number 54 with tackles rufus mays stan walters and vern holland yards howard fest guy dennis and number 73 pat matson backed up by steve lawson and tom dillon brown traded for burge carter a crafty backup quarterback a valuable asset but none is more valuable than ken anderson the conference's fifth leading quarterback despite being in only his second season doug dressler from chico state started at one running back spot at 230 pounds dressler was big enough to work inside yet fast enough to go outside [Music] number 19 essex johnson gained over 800 yards in 1972 the essex express [Music] number 30 jess phillips backed up both men with his usual all-out effort running as did rhys morrison a fine receiving core helped anderson's development number 17 speedy thomas worked the outside fringes in the middle zones anderson found tight end tough bob trumpy number 84. [Applause] big and strong trumpy can take the bumps in the middle yeti is swift enough to go long and experienced enough to work free when anderson gets into trouble but the most pleasant development in the receiving corps was chip myers number 25. in 1972 myers returned from two broken arms to catch 57 passes was just one reception short of the afc receiving title [Music] with all barrels loaded in a and two record their best start ever paul brown's bengals faced a first place showdown with the steelers but on their first play from scrimmage the bengals fumbled pittsburgh went on to score and cincinnati never recovered [Music] the bengals were no longer in first [Music] place [Music] the next week the bengals face the raiders their second consecutive playoff qualifier opponent and the bengals lost by six [Music] the bengals had lost two straight and were now five and four then in the rain the bengals faced the colts for the first time in regular season play and the bengals razzle was less than [Music] dazzling [Music] at one point the bengals led 19 to 17 but lost on a missed extra point and a cold field goal as time ran out the bengals who three weeks before were in first place had lost three straight and with their record at five and five they were in a tunnel to nowhere but there was light at the other end against the bears in the face of impending doom the bengals clawed back surprise starter verge carter led the offense through the snow and cold for 13 points the ever alert defense made the points stand up in a 13-3 step toward the playoffs the first step had been taken but the next would be tougher it brought the new york giants and all they had done was score 62 points the previous week against the bengals they got 52 less doug adams again spelling bill bergie intercepted twice as the giants got but 10 points anderson found a new landing site for his passes as charlie joyner obtained in a trade caught four passes [Music] anderson passed for over 200 yards and a touchdown to bruce coslett who along with mike kelly backed up trumpy at tight end in one of their most important games of the season anderson had led the bengals to that second critical victory on the trail back to the playoffs the stage was now set for the bengals rematch with the browns but their 13 to 10 victory over the giants was costly for bob trumpy was lost for the season the bengals would move into their do or die game against cleveland minus their all-pro tight end [Music] this is a bodybuilding course [Music] if you'd like the chance to be in this kind of shape today's army wants to join you call 800-243-6000 toll free for your nearest army representative riverfront stadium december 9 1972 a national television audience watched as the bengals desperate uphill climb brought them face to face with the cleveland browns their better rivalry meant even more in this game or if the bengals lost their playoff hopes were over a win and the browns were in trouble with so much at stake both teams were testy from the outset the bengals then ran into an incredible streak of bad luck early in the game anderson hit chip myers from 50 yards out for an apparent [Music] touchdown but the play was nullified by a penalty one of two bengal touchdowns called back in the first half with the browns on the 50-yard line another break went against the bengals five men knocked each other off and cleveland led seven to nothing [Music] then the bengals fumbled the following kickoff which led to a 14 to nothing deficit finally anderson left the field injured the bengal playoff hopes would ride on burge carter carter responded and the browns lead was cut to four at the half despite significant breaks going against them the bengals had again fought back at the start of the second half bernard jackson atoned for his fumble that had led to the brown's second score jackson's return set up essex johnson's scoring run and the bengals led 17-14 but late in the game don cockroft's field goal gave cleveland the lead once more and so with four minutes left the bengals mounted one more assault on the goal one more chance to keep their playoff hopes alive [Applause] 385 an interception ended the bengals gallant last ditch drive cincinnati would not see the playoffs in 1972 [Music] their playoff hopes dashed the bengals might well have gone into their final game merely to play out the string but that's not what the bengals are all about against the houston oilers in a game played solely for self-respect the bengals had one of their brightest moments of the season the defense scored three touchdowns within five minutes in the third quarter on consecutive series lamar parish returned interceptions from the 35 and then an instant replay from the 25. neil craig returned another interception 65 yards as the bengals defense contributed 21 points the offense added 40 more points in a total team display by the bengals again the bengals had come back strong [Music] they're 61-17 victory in a game that had little meaning a test of the character of the team the 1972 bengals were 40 men who came together early in the season and regardless of what fate handed them never gave up they were 40 men who no matter what the situation came out and hit [Music] the bengals did not come as one man they came as a team each man doing his utmost did not let his teammates down this was the character of the 1972 bengals an attitude that carried over from kickoff to final gun an attitude that makes the cincinnati bengals more than competitive [Music] [Applause] [Music] when you see a game on tv or at the stadium you see professional athletes being professionals but you don't see the sweat and bruises and training the self-discipline and the motivation that goes into the making of a team that can press on right to the end you have to get it all together in any worthwhile effort sports business or the united states army this is pat sumrall saying so long for the united states army in the national football league and thanks for the opportunity of bringing of this program

Channel: Grey Beard

Views: 1,001

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: NFL Films, Steve Sabol, Ed Sabol, Cincinnati Bengals, Paul Brown, Ken Anderson, Pat Summerall

Id: G8NjUrAHwC8

Length: 27min 27sec (1647 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 22 2020