Each January 24th I think about it all over again. I still don’t like it. The hurt is still there.
Much like we just witnessed the greatest college football story in history when the Indiana Hoosiers went 16-0 and ended a season that will be talked about for a long time, the 1981 NFL season too had gridiron renaissance qualities. The Cincinnati Bengals played the San Francisco 49ers in Pontiac, Michigan in an indoor stadium called The Silverdome in Super Bowl XVI. The last time I saw The Silverdome the massive parking lot was working as a drive-in theater.
In 1980, both the Bengals and the 49ers finished the regular season with 6-10 records. The teams turned things around in 1981 like nothing we have seen since. The Bengals were 12-4 and the Niners were 13-3. It was a case of which Cinderella do you root for?
In 1981, Coach Bill Walsh gave the 49ers keys to the offense to a young quarterback a couple of years removed from Notre Dame named Joe Montana. The Niners had the whole package. Offensively they worked magic with their passing game. Their run game was less than stellar. Ricky Patton led their ground attack with less than 600 yards. Earl Cooper and Paul Hofer and a couple other guys carried the ball too. Where the Niners were really stout was on defense. Ronnie Lott, Dwight Hicks, Carlton Williamson, and Eric Wright were a defensive backfield to behold. Fred Dean and Jim Stuckey were on the D-Line. Keena Turn and Hacksaw Reynolds playing linebackers were not guys you wanted meeting you while you were running the ball. I know Joe Montana had the goods for the duration of his career. He shined much brighter in years to come. For the game Montana was 14 of 22 for 157 yards in Super Bowl XVI. Sounds like Mendoza numbers from Monday night. The defense won it this time for San Francisco.
The Bengals didn’t help themselves in Super Bowl XVI. Ken Anderson threw two interceptions, and two fumbles were lost also. One by Archie Griffin and the other by Cris Collinsworth.
While Joe Montana was the young hotshot, Ken Anderson was working on his 11th NFL season when success finally came around. The AFC Central was a brutal division in the 1970s and early 80s. Getting past the Pittsburgh Steelers just didn’t happen in those days.
For me, the game turned to the 49ers when Ken Anderson suffered a shot to the head that would be more than illegal today when, on the Bengals’ first drive, Jim Stuckey rocked Anderson’s world, and Anderson came up a bit wobbly. He stayed in the game. On the next play, the most accurate QB in the league threw an interception. Dwight Hicks looked like the intended receiver, and he returned the oskie 27 yards the other way. The Bengals went into the locker room at halftime down 20-0.
The final score was 26-21. The Bengals just couldn’t put up enough points in a valiant comeback. Ken Anderson was 25-34 300 yards and 2 TDs. I still pull this game up on YouTube now and again. There never a pro football team that I enjoyed watching more. I still feel that way, all these years on.