Week 3, September 18th, 1988, Cincinnati Bengals (2-0) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (0-2)

Sunday, September 18th, 1988 1:00PM
Cincinnati Bengals (2-0) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (0-2)
Three Rivers Stadium
Weather: 67 degrees, relative humidity 95%, wind 10 mph
Line: Pittsburgh -2.5 (pittsburgh), O/U 47 (under)

Attendance: 56,647 (59,000)

Cincinnati 14, Pittsburgh 17

Steelers defense, led by Rod Woodson, keep the Bengals off the scoreboard just long enough for their 1st victory

The Cincinnati Bengals were looking to continue a perfect early season run as the visited a hostile Three Rivers Stadium to face the Steelers, who were hungry to earn their first win.

The defenses came out hitting hard and not allowing either offense to gain a foothold. The Bengals got to midfield on the game's opening drive, but could not overcome a holding penalty on 1st down. The Steelers were also forced to punt. On Cincinnati's 2nd chance, RB James Brooks found a hole for a 19 yard gain to mid-field. However, a 3 yard loss on an Ira Hillary screen pass and a sack by DE Aaron Jones again forced punter Lee Johnson on the field. On Pittsburgh's 2nd possession, Bengals' End Jim Skow registered his own sack on Bubby Brister on 3rd and 5 forcing Harry Newsome to punt. The next play, Rod Woodson forced the first mistake of the game, intercepting a Boomer Esiason (22-46, 309 Yards, 2 TD, 3 Int, 57.2 Rating) pass intended for Ira Hillary. The Steelers could not gain a first down and Newsome was again summoned to punt.

Pittsburgh's next possession would finally feature some offense. Brister would connect with Louis Lipps (6-106 TD) for 29 yards on one of Brister's 10 completions on the day. HB Warren Williams ran for a 14 yard off tackle to the right, and Merril Hoge caught a screen pass and ran it to the 1 yard line for 12 yards. LB Leon White came up with a huge sack on 1st and goal, and LE Jason Buck got pressure to force an incomplete pass on 3rd down. Gary Anderson missed the 23 yard chip shot field goal attempt and the score was still knotted at 0-0 early in the 2nd quarter.

James Brooks breaks into the Steelers Secondary for his game-high 19 yard run in the 1st quarter

The Bengals gained a couple first downs and moved the ball again to the Pittsburgh side of midfield, when Boomer Esiason threw his second interception of the game, this time to Thomas Everett on a deep ball intended for Cris Collinsworth.

The teams exchanged 3-and-outs. Midway through the 2nd quarter, Rod Woodson fumbled away a Lee Johnson punt, recovered by Cincinnati's Cris Collinsworth (2-27). Steelers' End Tim Johnson came up with a huge sack on 3rd down, making the field goal attempt by Jim Breech more difficult. Breech missed wide on the 48 yard attempt and the game remained scoreless.

Cincinnati next got the ball with 4:25 remaining. Ira Hillary, who would have a career game, (10-140 TD) caught passes for 29, 14, and 8. A deep attempt to Collinsworth resulted in a 25 yard defensive pass interference call on Pittsburgh for 3rd and goal from the 6. The defense held, and Jim Breech again missed the field goal attempt, this time a much easier 23 yard attempt. The teams went into the half scoreless.

Boomer Esiason searches for answers to solve an inspired Steelers defense

The Steelers got the ball first in the second half and would break the scoreless tie. Rod Woodson ran the kick back for 20 yards, Earnest Jackson ran for 18, Rodney Carter caught a pass for 16, and Louis Lipps corralled an 18 yard reception to the 2 yard line, where Earnest Jackson wasted no time and ran it up the middle for the 2 yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The Steelers made it look easy.

Again, as they were able to accomplish all game so far, the Bengals got to midfield. A long attempt to Ira Hillary was intercepted once again by Rod Woodson, who ran returned the miscue 27 yards back to midfield. The Steelers drove it down to the end zone behind the rushing of Rodney Carter, Earnest Jackson, and Merril Hoge. On 2nd and 11 from the 20, Bubby Brister hit Louis Lipps over the middle on a crossing route and Lipps darted into the end zone for the 14-0 lead.

Esiason connected with Hilary (31) and Collinsworth (13) to set up another 48 yard attempt to get on the scoreboard by Jim Breech. He missed his 3rd field goal of the day.

Jim Breech was 0-3 on field goals for the afternoon, which was the difference in the game.

Early in the 4th quarter, the bengals drove to the 4 yard line. Stanley Wilson and Marc Logan were both stuffed and a pass attempt to Jim Riggs was broken up. Sam Wyche elected to go for it on 4th and goal and while Greg Lloyd applied pressure to Esiason, the secondary broke up another attempt to Riggs, and the Bengals again walked away empty-handed. Thanks to 35 yards in penalties and a 28 yard reception by Louis Lipps, the Steelers and Gary Anderson extended the lead to 17-0 with 7:16 to play.

The Bengals offense, who were putting up impressive numbers despite being shut out, finally figured out how to convert. Ira Hillary caught a 13 yard touchdown pass on 3rd and goal to cap an 11 play scoring drive where different Bengals were able to gain chinks of yardage. It was 17-7 though with only 2:50 to play.

Jim Breech's onside kickoff was recovered by Lewis Billups to keep Cincinnati's hopes alive. A 16 yard pass to Marc Logan (3-49) and a 32 yard touchdown pass later to Eddie Brown for his only catch, and suddenly it was a 17-14 game and the Bengals had their 2nd touchdown in 1:05 after being shut out for the first 57 minutes.

The comeback hopes were dashed though, as the Steelers recovered the onside kick attempt. Merril Hogs rumbled for a first down on 3rd and 4 and all that was left was for Bubby Brister to take a knee to preserve Pittsburgh's 1st win of the season.

Player of the Game:
Rod Woodson - Steelers

Woodson had 2 interceptions including one in the 3rd quarter that led to Pittsburgh's 2nd touchdown. He also had 7 tackles and a strong return game.

1988 Cincinnati 14, 1988 Pittsburgh 17
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Total
1988 Cincinnati	0	0	0	14	0	14
1988 Pittsburgh	0	0	14	3	0	17

Scoring Plays
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Scoring Description(Extra Point)	Score
3	11:21	1988 Pittsburgh	E.Jackson 2 yd. run (G.Anderson kick)	7-0 PIA
3	6:24	1988 Pittsburgh	L.Lipps 20 yd. pass from B.Brister (G.Anderson kick)	14-0 PIA
4	7:16	1988 Pittsburgh	G.Anderson 30 yd. field goal	17-0 PIA
4	2:50	1988 Cincinnati	I.Hillary 13 yd. pass from B.Esiason (J.Breech kick)	17-7 PIA
4	1:45	1988 Cincinnati	E.Brown 32 yd. pass from B.Esiason (J.Breech kick)	17-14 PIA

Other Highlights
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Event	Player	Yards
1	6:43	1988 Cincinnati	QBSack	Aaron Jones	-7
1	4:47	1988 Pittsburgh	QBSack	Jim Skow	-9
1	4:15	1988 Pittsburgh	Intercept	Rod Woodson	0
2	13:56	1988 Pittsburgh	QBSack	Leon White	-5
2	13:08	1988 Pittsburgh	Missed Field Goal	Gary Anderson	23
2	10:23	1988 Pittsburgh	Intercept	Thomas Everett	0
2	7:20	1988 Pittsburgh	Fumble	Rod Woodson
2	6:16	1988 Cincinnati	QBSack	Tim A. Johnson	-7
2	6:00	1988 Cincinnati	Missed Field Goal	Jim Breech	48
2	1:15	1988 Cincinnati	Missed Field Goal	Jim Breech	23
3	9:35	1988 Pittsburgh	Intercept	Rod Woodson	27
3	5:54	1988 Cincinnati	Pass	Ira Hillary	31
3	3:23	1988 Cincinnati	Missed Field Goal	Jim Breech	48

Team Statistics
	1988 Cincinnati	1988 Pittsburgh
First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total	6-17-2-25	11-6-2-19
Third Down Efficiency	6-15-40%	3-13-23%
Fourth Down Efficiency	0-1-0%	1-1-100%
Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct)	7-21-33%	17-28-61%
Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play	433-77-5.6	275-62-4.4
Total Net Yards Rushing	138	139
Total Rushes	29	35
Average Per Rush	4.8	4.0
Passes Completed/Attempted	22/46 (47.8%)	10/25 (40.0%)
Net Yards Passing	295	136
Avg Yards Per Pass	6.7	6.0
Sacked/Yards Lost	2/14	2/14
Punts/Average	4/37.8	7/49.7
Punts Received/Return Yardage	1/-2	3/13
Kickoffs/Returns	4/78	1/20
Interceptions/Returns	0/0	3/27
Penalties/Yards	7/70	4/50
Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost	0/0	2/1
Time of Possession	32 mins 43 secs	27 mins 17 secs
Average Drive Start	CNA 26	PIA 29

Passing Stats
	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp %	Yds/Att	TD	TD %	INT	INT %	Long	Sack	Rating
1988 Cincinnati
Boomer Esiason	46	22	309	47.8	6.7	2	4.3	3	6.5	32	2/14	57.2
1988 Pittsburgh
Bubby Brister	25	10	150	40.0	6.0	1	4.0	0	0	29	2/14	73.8

Rushing Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv	Fumbles/Lost
1988 Cincinnati
Stanley Wilson	11	36	3.3	7	0	0	0/0
James Brooks	10	62	6.2	19	0	0	0/0
Ickey Woods	4	15	3.8	11	0	0	0/0
Boomer Esiason	3	25	8.3	13	0	0	0/0
Marc Logan	1	0	0.0	0	0	0	0/0
1988 Pittsburgh
Merril Hoge	14	53	3.8	18	0	0	0/0
Warren Williams	8	17	2.1	14	0	0	0/0
Earnest Jackson	6	31	5.2	18	1	0	1/0
Bubby Brister	3	7	2.3	9	0	0	0/0
Dwight Stone	2	16	8.0	11	0	0	0/0
Rodney Carter	2	15	7.5	15	0	0	0/0

Receiving Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv
1988 Cincinnati
Ira Hillary	10	140	14.0	31	1	0
Marc Logan	3	49	16.3	17	0	0
Stanley Wilson	2	16	8.0	10	0	0
Cris Collinsworth	2	27	13.5	14	0	0
Jim Riggs	2	22	11.0	16	0	0
Eddie Brown	1	32	32.0	32	1	0
Ickey Woods	1	16	16.0	16	0	0
James Brooks	1	7	7.0	7	0	0
1988 Pittsburgh
Louis Lipps	6	106	17.7	29	1	0
Rodney Carter	3	32	10.7	16	0	0
Merril Hoge	1	12	12.0	12	0	0

Field Goals
	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	Totals	% Made
1988 Cincinnati
Jim Breech	0/0	0/1	0/0	0/2	0/0	0/3	0.0
1988 Pittsburgh
Gary Anderson	0/0	0/1	1/1	0/0	0/0	1/2	50.0

Punting
	No	Avg	Net	Tb	Inside 20	Long	Blocked
1988 Cincinnati
Lee Johnson	4	37.8	34.5	0	2	46	0
1988 Pittsburgh
Harry Newsome	7	49.7	47.1	1	2	62	0

Kickoff Returns
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Cincinnati
Stanford Jennings	3	62	20.7	26	0
Ira Hillary	1	16	16.0	16	0
1988 Pittsburgh
Rod Woodson	1	20	20.0	20	0

Punt Returns
	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Cincinnati
Eddie Brown	1	0	-2	-2.0	-2	0
Ira Hillary	0	2	0		0	0
1988 Pittsburgh
Rod Woodson	3	0	13	4.3	12	0

Individual Defense
	Tackles	Sacks	Fum Rec
1988 Cincinnati
Leon White	10	1	0
Lewis Billups	6	0	0
Tim Krumrie	6	0	0
Joe Kelly	4	0	0
Carl Zander	4	0	0
Solomon Wilcots	3	0	0
David Fulcher	3	0	0
Eric Thomas	2	0	0
Rickey Dixon	1	0	0
Jason Buck	1	0	0
Reggie Williams	1	0	0
Jim Skow	1	1	0
Leo Barker	1	0	0
Cris Collinsworth	0	0	1
1988 Pittsburgh
Bryan Hinkle	8	0	0
Rod Woodson	7	0	0
Thomas Everett	6	0	0
Aaron Jones	5	1	0
Cornell Gowdy	5	0	0
Dwayne Woodruff	5	0	0
Greg Lloyd	3	0	0
Larry Griffin	3	0	0
David Little	3	0	0
Hardy Nickerson	2	0	0
Tim A. Johnson	2	1	0
Gerald Williams	2	0	0
Terry Long	0	0	1

Interceptions
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Cincinnati
1988 Pittsburgh
Rod Woodson	2	27	13.5	27	0
Thomas Everett	1	0	0.0	0	0

Game Story

In a tightly fought contest Pittsburgh got past Cincinnati by the score of 17 to 14. Pittsburgh had 150 yards passing and 139 yards running for the game. The game was tied at the half, 0 to 0. Boomer Esiason threw 46 times for 309 yards and 2 touchdowns for Cincinnati.