Week 2, September 11th, 1988, Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) @ Philadelphia Eagles (1-0)

Sunday, September 11th, 1988 4:00PM
Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) @ Philadelphia Eagles (1-0)
Veterans Stadium
Weather: 66 degrees, relative humidity 59%, wind 9 mph
Line: Philadelphia -5 (cincinnati), O/U 47 (under)

Attendance:  66,459 (65,356)

Cincinnati 24, Philadelphia 21

The game of the week would live up to its billing as two 1-0 Superbowl hopefuls from each conference met in front of a greater-than-sellout crowd at Veterans Stadium in South Philadelphia.

Behind a 7 yard 3rd down run by Stanford Jennings, and a 36 yard catch by Cris Collinsworth (9-139), the Bengals drove down to the 16, where Jim Breech converted on a 33 yard field goal for an early lead.  Eagle End Clyde Simmons overpowered tackle Anthony Munoz for a huge sack to stall the drive.

On their 2nd possession, the Eagles broke through thanks to some big plays.  Mike Quick (7-87) caught a 20 yard pass from Randall Cunningham (29-45, 307 Yards, 3 TDs,  1 Int, 97.2 rating) on 3rd and long, and Anthony Toney picked up 3 tough yards on the ground for another first down to set up a 26 yard touchdown pass from Cunningham to Cris Carter (7-111 TD) to take a 7-3 lead.

The Eagles would again move the ball on a tough Bengal defense on their next possession.  Rookie Tight End Keith Jackson (8-78) caught a buttonhook and ran for 23 yards, and Cris Carter caught another short pass and ran for 16 yards on another 3rd and long.  On the 1st play of the 2nd quarter, 3rd and goal from the 7, Cunningham hit WR Ron Johnson in the end zone to take a 14-3 lead.

Most of the 2nd quarter was a battle in the trenches.  At the 2 minute warning, Philadelphia punted from their own 30.  John Teltschik shanked it 27 yards and Ira Hillary returned it 11 yards for a 16 net.  The breathed life into the Bengal offense.  Marc Logan caught a pass for 13 yards, followed by a sack by Reggie White.  The Bengals showed resiliency as Cris Collinsworth made another huge grab, this time 28 yards on 3rd and 14 to the 9 yard line.  Stanley Wilson (11-48 TD) ran it in on 2 sweep attempts to close the gap to 14-10 Eagles at halftime.

Boomer Esiason was clutch in the pocket late in the 2nd quarter, bringing life to his potent offense

Things were pretty quiet until the 8 minute mark of the 4th quarter.  Bengal End Jim Skow sacked Randall Cunningham on 3rd and 3 to force a punt from deep in Eagles territory, which resulted in good field position for Esiason and company.  The 1st play was a 36 yard pass, again, a big play to Cris Collinsworth who was finally tackled at the 11 yard line.  Ira Hillary caught a 7 yard touchdown pass 2 plays later to put the Bengals ahead for the first time 17-14.

Later in the quarter, on 3rd and 9 from Philadelphia's 21, Randall Cunningham was sacked by Nose Tackle David Grant and Jim Skow made another big play by recovering the ball on the 14.  Tight End Jim Riggs caught Esiason's 3rd touchdown pass of the day on the next play for the 14 yard touchdown and a 24-14 lead.

Early in the 4th quarter, Cincinnati punter Lee Johnson pinned the Eagles at the 1 yard line with a perfect 46 yard punt with a bounce. The stout Bengals defense held the Eagles to a punt and a drive start in Eagles territory, but Eric Allen saved the game for the Eagles by intercepting a Boomer Esiason pass in the end zone for a touchback with 7:18 remaining.

The Eagles converted on some big plays, sparked by a 22 yard scramble by Cunningham on 2nd down, followed by a 34 yard reception by Cris Carter 2 plays later.  Mike Quick caught a crossing pattern pass for 15 yards to set up an 8 yard scoring catch by Keith Jackson to make the score 24-21 with 4:59 remaining.

After getting a first down, the Bengals tried to go for the jugular, with a deep pass to Cris Collinsworth.  CB Roynell Young jumped in front of the receiver for the interception and ran it back 38 yards to the Bengals' 34 with 3:41 to play and a 3 point defecit.

Cunningham led the Eagles with some high percentage passing plays resulting in 2 first downs and running the clock down.  The Eagles were faced with a 3rd and 13 from the 15 yard line, an easy field goal for Luis Zendejas.  The Eagles were going to go for a pass and the 1st down, going for the victory by way of running clock and scoring a touchdown, "worst case" a field goal.  Disaster struck.  Randall Cunningham fumbled the snap and Nose Tackle David Grant jumped on it with 1:15 left.  The Bengals hung on to the 24-21 victory and a 2-0 record.

Randall Cunningham looks on in disbelief after fumbling away a sure-fire chance to tie the game late in the 4th quarter.

Player of the Game:

Cris Collinsworth - Bengals

Cris Collinsworth was a big play threat all game, leading all receivers with 9 catches for 139 yards

1988 Cincinnati 24, 1988 Philadelphia 21
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Total
1988 Cincinnati	3	7	14	0	0	24
1988 Philadelphia	7	7	0	7	0	21

Scoring Plays
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Scoring Description(Extra Point)	Score
1	11:30	1988 Cincinnati	J.Breech 33 yd. field goal	3-0 CNA
1	5:48	1988 Philadelphia	C.Carter 26 yd. pass from R.Cunningham (L.Zendejas kick)	7-3 PHN
2	14:46	1988 Philadelphia	R.Johnson 7 yd. pass from R.Cunningham (L.Zendejas kick)	14-3 PHN
2	0:15	1988 Cincinnati	S.Wilson 5 yd. run (J.Breech kick)	14-10 PHN
3	6:22	1988 Cincinnati	I.Hillary 7 yd. pass from B.Esiason (J.Breech kick)	17-14 CNA
3	2:46	1988 Cincinnati	J.Riggs 14 yd. pass from B.Esiason (J.Breech kick)	24-14 CNA
4	4:59	1988 Philadelphia	K.Jackson 8 yd. pass from R.Cunningham (L.Zendejas kick)	24-21 CNA

Other Highlights
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Event	Player	Yards
1	12:22	1988 Cincinnati	QBSack	Clyde Simmons	-11
2	12:30	1988 Philadelphia	Intercept	Wes Hopkins	13
2	1:15	1988 Cincinnati	QBSack	Reggie White	-8
3	8:03	1988 Philadelphia	QBSack	Jim Skow	-3
3	7:28	1988 Cincinnati	Pass	Cris Collinsworth	36
3	5:07	1988 Cincinnati	Intercept	Lewis Billups	0
3	3:01	1988 Philadelphia	QBSack Fumble	David Grant	-8
4	9:53	1988 Philadelphia	QBSack	Tim Krumrie	-10
4	7:18	1988 Philadelphia	Intercept	Eric Allen	0
4	5:42	1988 Philadelphia	Pass	Cris Carter	34
4	3:41	1988 Philadelphia	Intercept	Roynell Young	38
4	1:15	1988 Philadelphia	Fumble	Randall Cunningham
4	0:15	1988 Philadelphia	QBSack	Jason Buck	-7

Team Statistics
	1988 Cincinnati	1988 Philadelphia
First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total	7-12-2-21	4-15-1-20
Third Down Efficiency	3-13-23%	7-19-37%
Fourth Down Efficiency	0-1-0%	0-1-0%
Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct)	24-28-86%	14-21-67%
Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play	346-69-5.0	349-78-4.5
Total Net Yards Rushing	134	70
Total Rushes	30	29
Average Per Rush	4.5	2.4
Passes Completed/Attempted	19/37 (51.4%)	29/45 (64.4%)
Net Yards Passing	212	279
Avg Yards Per Pass	6.2	6.8
Sacked/Yards Lost	2/19	4/28
Punts/Average	7/48.4	8/36.6
Punts Received/Return Yardage	6/57	0/0
Kickoffs/Returns	2/28	4/91
Interceptions/Returns	1/0	3/51
Penalties/Yards	7/55	9/59
Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost	1/0	2/2
Time of Possession	28 mins 51 secs	31 mins 9 secs
Average Drive Start	CNA 36	PHN 25

Passing Stats
	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp %	Yds/Att	TD	TD %	INT	INT %	Long	Sack	Rating
1988 Cincinnati
Boomer Esiason	37	19	231	51.4	6.2	2	5.4	3	8.1	36	2/19	55.1
1988 Philadelphia
Randall Cunningham	45	29	307	64.4	6.8	3	6.7	1	2.2	34	4/28	97.2

Rushing Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv	Fumbles/Lost
1988 Cincinnati
Stanley Wilson	11	48	4.4	15	1	0	1/0
Ickey Woods	5	10	2.0	6	0	0	0/0
James Brooks	5	36	7.2	18	0	0	0/0
Boomer Esiason	5	23	4.6	11	0	0	0/0
Marc Logan	3	10	3.3	9	0	0	0/0
Stanford Jennings	1	7	7.0	7	0	0	0/0
1988 Philadelphia
Keith Byars	17	18	1.1	8	0	0	0/0
Randall Cunningham	4	19	4.8	22	0	0	2/2
Anthony Toney	4	11	2.8	5	0	0	0/0
Michael Haddix	4	22	5.5	15	0	0	0/0

Receiving Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv
1988 Cincinnati
Cris Collinsworth	9	139	15.4	36	0	0
Ira Hillary	4	37	9.3	14	1	0
Marc Logan	3	18	6.0	13	0	0
Jim Riggs	2	24	12.0	14	1	0
Stanley Wilson	1	13	13.0	13	0	0
1988 Philadelphia
Keith Jackson	8	78	9.8	23	1	0
Cris Carter	7	111	15.9	34	1	0
Mike Quick	7	87	12.4	28	0	0
Keith Byars	5	19	3.8	7	0	0
Anthony Toney	1	5	5.0	5	0	0
Ron Johnson	1	7	7.0	7	1	0

Field Goals
	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	Totals	% Made
1988 Cincinnati
Jim Breech	0/0	0/0	1/1	0/0	0/0	1/1	100
1988 Philadelphia

Punting
	No	Avg	Net	Tb	Inside 20	Long	Blocked
1988 Cincinnati
Lee Johnson	7	48.4	42.7	2	3	60	0
1988 Philadelphia
John Teltschik	8	36.6	29.5	0	3	44	0

Kickoff Returns
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Cincinnati
Stanford Jennings	2	28	14.0	14	0
1988 Philadelphia
Shawn Beals	3	67	22.3	27	0
Mark Konecny	1	24	24.0	24	0

Punt Returns
	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Cincinnati
Ira Hillary	6	0	57	9.5	19	0
Eddie Brown	0	1	0		0	0
1988 Philadelphia
Mark Konecny	0	1	0		0	0

Individual Defense
	Tackles	Sacks	Fum Rec
1988 Cincinnati
David Fulcher	8	0	0
Carl Zander	8	0	0
Reggie Williams	7	0	0
Leon White	6	0	0
Lewis Billups	6	0	0
Eric Thomas	4	0	0
Joe Kelly	4	0	0
Jim Skow	4	1	1
Tim Krumrie	3	1	0
Leo Barker	2	0	0
Skip McLendon	2	0	0
Solomon Wilcots	2	0	0
Jason Buck	1	1	0
David Grant	1	1	1
Joe Walter	0	0	1
1988 Philadelphia
Mike Reichenbach	9	0	0
Todd Bell	7	0	0
Andre Waters	5	0	0
Eric Allen	4	0	0
Roynell Young	4	0	0
Seth Joyner	4	0	0
Reggie White	4	1	0
Eric Everett	4	0	0
Clyde Simmons	2	1	0
Mike Pitts	2	0	0
Jerome Brown	1	0	0
Wes Hopkins	1	0	0

Interceptions
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Cincinnati
Lewis Billups	1	0	0.0	0	0
1988 Philadelphia
Wes Hopkins	1	13	13.0	13	0
Eric Allen	1	0	0.0	0	0
Roynell Young	1	38	38.0	38	0

Game Story

Cris Collinsworth put up some nice numbers as the visitors from Cincinnati defeated Philadelphia by the score of 24 to 21. Collinsworth grabbed 9 passes for 139 receiving yards. Cincinnati controlled the ground game, out-rushing Philadelphia 134 to 70 yards. Philadelphia took the lead into the locker room at the half 14 to 10. Cincinnati led after three quarters 24 to 14. Randall Cunningham passed 45 times for 307 yards and 3 touchdowns for Philadelphia, in a losing effort.