Sunday, September 4th, 1988 1:00PM
Phoenix Cardinals (0-0) @ Cincinnati Bengals (0-0)
Riverfront Stadium
Weather: 68 degrees, relative humidity 79%, wind 10 mph
Line: Cincinnati -5.5 (cincinnati), O/U 47 (over)
Attendance 50,404 (59,754)
Phoenix 14, Cincinnati 49
Bengals break team rushing record, gain 608 total yards in rout of the Cardinals
The Riverfront Stadium played host to the first ever game played by the Phoenix Cardinals, who relocated from St. Louis during the offseason. Hopes are very high in Cincinnati as Boomer Esiason, James Brooks, and new draft choice Ickey Woods plan on having a big impact on the AFC playoff picture in 1988. Head Coach Sam Wyche is on the hot seat after failing to make the playoffs in 1987 with a 4-12 record.
The Cardinals came out with a puncher's chance. The first play of scrimmage was a 49 yard bomb from Neil Lomax (17-29 242 yds, 2 TDs 108.7 rtg) to Roy Green to quickly move the ball into Bengal territory. The drive would quickly stall and Al Del Greco missed his 50 yard field goal try.
From that point forward, Cincinnati and their relentless running attack took complete control of the afternoon. Their first drive was 6 plays for 67 yards, with 51 on the ground, with the exclamation point of a 5 yard tun by James Brooks (17-155 2TD). The Bengals scored touchdowns on 3 of their next 4 drives, all passes from Boomer Esiason (19-28 216 yds, 4TDs, 1 Int 115.5 rtg) who had the luxury of Phoenix's inability to stop the run. Tim McGee caught 2 of those touchdown passes and also added one early in the 3rd quarter for 3 total.
Meanwhile, Phoenix struggled. Their last 5 possessions of the 1st half resulted in 2 fumbles, a touchdown, and 2 punts. The Bengals held a comfortable 28-7 halftime lead.
Tim McGee after catching a touchdown pass from Boomer Esiason that would put the Bengals on top 14-0. McGee had a career day, catching 6 balld for 56 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The Bengals spent the second half bleeding the clock, but also effectively moving the ball. They easily won the ball possession "battle" 37 minutes to 23 minutes. They scored quickly (Tim McGee) in the 3rd quarter to take an insurmountable 35-7 lead. Besides Brooks' 155 yards, Rookie Icky Woods had 126 yards on 13 carries and Stanley Wilson had 72 yards on 15 carries. In all, the Bengals had 379 rushing yards on 52 carries, a 7.3 yard average. They crushed their team rushing record of 300 yards rushing from 1986 against New England, they set a team record for 1st downs (36), tied a team record for 7 offensive touchdowns, and their 608 yards of offense was the 2nd most in franchise history to a 621 yard performance against the Jets, also in 1986. The final score was a merciful 49-14.
Player of the Game
James Brooks - Bengals
Brooks took the game on his shoulders, gaining 155 yards on 17 carries for an astonishing 9.1 yards per carry, and added 2 touchdown rushes. He also caught 1 pass on the 1st touchdown drive for 16 yards.
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
OT
|
Total
| |
| 1988 Phoenix |
0
|
7
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
14
|
| 1988 Cincinnati |
14
|
14
|
14
|
7
|
0
|
49
|
| Scoring Plays | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qtr | Clock | Poss | Scoring Description(Extra Point) | Score | ||
| 1 | 10:21 | 1988 Cincinnati | J.Brooks 5 yd. run (J.Breech kick) | 7-0 CNA | ||
| 1 | 7:40 | 1988 Cincinnati | T.McGee 9 yd. pass from B.Esiason (J.Breech kick) | 14-0 CNA | ||
| 2 | 13:52 | 1988 Phoenix | R.Awalt 3 yd. pass from N.Lomax (A.Del Greco kick) | 14-7 CNA | ||
| 2 | 5:54 | 1988 Cincinnati | T.McGee 12 yd. pass from B.Esiason (J.Breech kick) | 21-7 CNA | ||
| 2 | 1:37 | 1988 Cincinnati | E.Brown 27 yd. pass from B.Esiason (J.Breech kick) | 28-7 CNA | ||
| 3 | 13:07 | 1988 Cincinnati | T.McGee 10 yd. pass from B.Esiason (J.Breech kick) | 35-7 CNA | ||
| 3 | 8:09 | 1988 Phoenix | R.Awalt 4 yd. pass from N.Lomax (A.Del Greco kick) | 35-14 CNA | ||
| 3 | 2:01 | 1988 Cincinnati | J.Brooks 10 yd. run (J.Breech kick) | 42-14 CNA | ||
| 4 | 6:43 | 1988 Cincinnati | S.Wilson 6 yd. run (J.Breech kick) | 49-14 CNA | ||
Team Statistics
| ||
| 1988 Phoenix | 1988 Cincinnati | |
| First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total | 4-12-1-17 | 23-12-1-36 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 4-10-40% | 8-11-73% |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 0-1-0% | 2-2-100% |
| Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct) | 14-21-67% | 42-49-86% |
| Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play | 292-54-5.4 | 608-82-7.4 |
| Total Net Yards Rushing | 72 | 379 |
| Total Rushes | 19 | 52 |
| Average Per Rush | 3.8 | 7.3 |
| Passes Completed/Attempted | 18/30 (60.0%) | 21/30 (70.0%) |
| Net Yards Passing | 220 | 229 |
| Avg Yards Per Pass | 8.5 | 7.6 |
| Sacked/Yards Lost | 5/34 | 0/0 |
| Punts/Average | 3/41.7 | 1/31.0 |
| Punts Received/Return Yardage | 1/7 | 1/8 |
| Kickoffs/Returns | 5/92 | 1/25 |
| Interceptions/Returns | 1/0 | 0/0 |
| Penalties/Yards | 5/40 | 7/63 |
| Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost | 5/3 | 3/1 |
| Time of Possession | 23 mins 47 secs | 36 mins 13 secs |
| Average Drive Start | PXN 26 | CNA 35 |
Passing Stats
| ||||||||||||
| Att | Comp | Yds | Comp % | Yds/Att | TD | TD % | INT | INT % | Long | Sack | Rating | |
| Neil Lomax | 29 | 17 | 242 | 58.6 | 8.3 | 2 | 6.9 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 5/34 | 108.7 |
| Cliff Stoudt | 1 | 1 | 12 | 100.0 | 12.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0/0 | 116.7 |
| Boomer Esiason | 28 | 19 | 216 | 67.9 | 7.7 | 4 | 14.3 | 1 | 3.6 | 33 | 0/0 | 115.5 |
| Turk Schonert | 2 | 2 | 13 | 100.0 | 6.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0/0 | 93.8 |
Rushing Stats
| |||||||||||
| No | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | 2 Pt Conv | Fumbles/Lost | |||||
| Earl Ferrell | 11 | 45 | 4.1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Stump Mitchell | 4 | 15 | 3.8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | ||||
| Neil Lomax | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | ||||
| Cliff Stoudt | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | ||||
| Tony Jordan | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| James Brooks | 17 | 155 | 9.1 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Stanley Wilson | 15 | 72 | 4.8 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Ickey Woods | 13 | 126 | 9.7 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | ||||
| Stanford Jennings | 6 | 22 | 3.7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1/0 | ||||
| Marc Logan | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1/0 | ||||
Receiving Stats
| |||||||||||
| No | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | 2 Pt Conv | ||||||
| J.T. Smith | 6 | 73 | 12.2 | 29 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Roy Green | 3 | 91 | 30.3 | 49 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Ernie L. Jones | 3 | 54 | 18.0 | 41 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Rob Awalt | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| Jay Novacek | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Stump Mitchell | 2 | 16 | 8.0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Tim McGee | 6 | 56 | 9.3 | 12 | 3 | 0 | |||||
| Rodney Holman | 5 | 66 | 13.2 | 33 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Eddie Brown | 4 | 52 | 13.0 | 27 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Cris Collinsworth | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 16 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Ira Hillary | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Jim Riggs | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| James Brooks | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Field Goals
| |||||||||||
| 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ | Totals | % Made | |||||
| Al Del Greco | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0.0 | ||||
Punting
| |||||||||||
| No | Avg | Net | Tb | Inside 20 | Long | Blocked | |||||
| Greg Horne | 3 | 41.7 | 39.0 | 0 | 1 | 52 | 0 | ||||
| Lee Johnson | 1 | 31.0 | 24.0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | ||||
Kickoff Returns
| |||||||||||
| No | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | |||||||
| Vai Sikahema | 3 | 55 | 18.3 | 19 | 0 | ||||||
| Ernie L. Jones | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 27 | 0 | ||||||
| Ira Hillary | 1 | 25 | 25.0 | 25 | 0 | ||||||
Punt Returns
| |||||||||||
| Ret | FC | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | ||||||
| Vai Sikahema | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | |||||
| Ira Hillary | 1 | 0 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 | |||||
| Eddie Brown | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Individual Defense
| |||||||||||
| Tackles | Sacks | Fum Rec | |||||||||
| Niko Noga | 12 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| E.J. Junior | 10 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Cedric Mack | 8 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Carl Carter | 8 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Anthony Bell | 6 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Tim McDonald | 6 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| David Galloway | 5 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Bob Clasby | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Lonnie Young | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Steve Alvord | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Earl Ferrell | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Vai Sikahema | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Leon White | 5 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Eric Thomas | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Carl Zander | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Rickey Dixon | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Solomon Wilcots | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Reggie Williams | 3 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| Jim Skow | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
| Tim Krumrie | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Jason Buck | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| Lewis Billups | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Ray Horton | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| David Grant | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| Joe Kelly | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| David Fulcher | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Joe Walter | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
Interceptions
| |||||||||||
| No | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | |||||||
| Carl Carter | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Game Story
| |||||
| James Brooks had a game to remember as Cincinnati pounded Phoenix by the score of 49 to 14. Brooks rambled for 155 yards scoring 2 times. Cincinnati was clutch on third down, converting on 8 of 11 opportunities. They controlled the ground game, out-rushing Phoenix 379 to 72 yards. Cincinnati had the advantage in time of possession, having the ball for 36:13. Cincinnati got ahead early outscoring Phoenix 14 to 0 in the first quarter. They took the lead into the locker room at the half 28 to 7. Cincinnati led after three quarters 42 to 14. Neil Lomax threw 29 times for 242 yards and 2 touchdowns for Phoenix. | |||||
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