Cincinnati Bengals Playoff Tickets

The Cincinnati Bengals are the second team to play in Ohio following their rivals, the Cleveland Browns. But the Bengals have built a playoff legacy that is all their own.

After joining the AFL as its tenth and final team pre-expansion, the Bengals made the playoffs in their inaugural 1970 NFL season. Their championship campaign was cut short due to a 17-0 shutout to the Baltimore Colts. The Bengals lost early again in the postseason, with premature exits in 1973 and 1975.

The Bengals competed for their first championship in 1981. After defeating the Buffalo Bills, the Bengals made it past the San Diego Chargers for the AFC Championship. The warm-weather Chargers, high off the incredible “Epic in Miami” overtime defeat of the Miami Dolphins, faced the Bengals in temperatures in the negative-9-degree (wind chill negative-37-degree) “Freezer Bowl.” The Bengals won with a convincing 27-7 score. Super Bowl XVI proved to be a mismatch however, with the Joe Montana-led San Francisco 49ers controlling the first half, 20-0. Though the Bengals managed to put 21 points on the board, they still lost the Super Bowl, 26-21.

1988 was a shot at redemption, and quarterback Boomer Esiason played an outstanding season, complemented by an offensive arsenal in wide receiver Eddie Brown, tight end Rodney Holman, and running back Ickey Woods. The Bengals took over Ohio, going undefeated at home and boasting a confident 12-4 record to carry them into the postseason.

In the 1988 Divisional Round, the Bengals attacked the Seattle Seahawks on the ground, winning 21-13 in spite of Seattle’s humbling defense. Top-notch clock management, tough defense, and another elite performance out of Woods held the waning Buffalo Bills to only 10 points against the Bengals’ 21. And now, the Bengals had their shot at redemption: Super Bowl XXIII versus, once again, the 49ers. The game began as a slog, both teams holding each other to 3 points each at the half. The Bengals struck first, near the end of the third quarter off a kickoff return for a touchdown from Stanford Jennings. The Niners immediately retaliated. The game was in limbo with 39-seconds to go, when Montana marched his Niners 95-yards down the field on the game winning drive.