NFL Old School Game of the Week: Young Plays Through Pain to Lead 49ers to Comeback Win over Bengals

 

Despite a sore groin, 49ers quarterback Steve Young accounted for 319 yards of total offense and three touchdowns in San Francisco's comeback win over the Bengals.

The NFL season is a grind, especially if you playing with an injury as was the case for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young when his team hosted the Cincinnati Bengals in week 8 of the 1996 season.

The 49ers entered the game with a 4-2 record and hopes of returning to the Super Bowl under head coach George Seifert who had San Francisco to two Super Bowl titles since he became the head coach of the 49ers in 1989.

The 49ers were led by their famous "West Coast Offense" with Young at quarterback plus wide receiver Jerry Rice and a rookie named Terrell Owens.

San Francisco won its first two games of the season before they were shocked by the second-year Carolina Panthers 23-7 in a game in which Young pulled the muscle in his left groin which would keep out of the lineup for the next three games as Elvis Grbac would lead the 49ers to a 2-1 record during that span.

Young was healthy enough after missing a month of football as the 49ers hosted the hapless Cincinnati Bengals who entered the game with a 1-5 record and their head coach, David Shula, on the hot seat.

Shula, the son of legendary head coach Don Shula, had been hired to replace Sam Wyche before the 1992 season after the Bengals had gone 3-13 in 1991.

The first three seasons for Shula were a nightmare as they went a combined 11-37 during that span before showing signs of life in 1995 as quarterback Jeff Blake help lead Cincinnati to a 7-9 record which was their best season since going 9-7 in 1990.

But with the Bengals entering their game with the 49ers on a four-game losing streak, rumors of Shula's dismissal were flying high as the Bengals traveled to Candlestick Park to take on the 49ers.

After forcing the Bengals to punt on their opening possession, the 49ers had the ball at their 20-yard-line when disaster struck on San Francisco's first offensive play of the game as Young was intercepted on a pass intended for Rice by Cincinnati cornerback Ashley Ambrose.

Ambrose's pick gave the Bengals the ball at the 29-yard-line where it would take them six plays to get into the end zone as Blake completed three of four passes for 29 yards on the drive with the last completion being a five-yard touchdown pass to Tony McGee to give Cincinnati a 7-0 lead with 8:58 remaining in the opening quarter.

It would get worse for the 49ers on their ensuing possession as Young was sacked, which was followed by an one-yard run by Derek Loville to set up 3rd & 16 from the San Francisco 24-yard-line when Young completed a 17-yard pass to Owens only to have Bengals free safety Bo Orlando strip Owens of the ball leading to a fumble that was recovered by linebacker James Francis at the San Francisco 41-yard-line.

An offsides penalty on the 49ers and four running plays for 21 yards put the Bengals at the San Francisco 15-yard-line when Blake connected with Hearst on a 15-yard touchdown pass to increase the Cincinnati to 14-0 with 5:08 left in the first quarter.

Bengals quarterback Jeff Blake completed 15 of 34 passes for 200 yards and threw three touchdowns.

Both teams would trade punts as the game moved into the second quarter with Cincinnati still ahead 14-0 as the 49ers had the ball at their 25-yard-line facing 3rd & 5 when Young was sacked by Bengals linebacker Steve Tovar for a five-yard loss as Young reaggravated the injury to his groin as he tried to run for the 1st down.

The 49ers punted the ball back to the Bengals who took over at their 37-yard-line and had Hearst run the ball two straight times for 13 yards until Blake threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Darnay Scott to increase the Cincinnati lead to 21-0 with 8:42 left in the second quarter.

When the San Francisco offense came back onto the field to start their next possession at their 40-yard-line, Young was on the sidelines as Seifert inserted Grbac at quarterback.

After his first pass fell incomplete, Grbac would hit Iheanyi Uwaezuoke for 12 yards and a 1st down at the Bengals' 48-yard-line, followed by a seven-yard pass to Rice, then a 21-yarder to tight end Ted Popson to put the 49ers at the Cincinnati 20-yard-line.

An incomplete pass and a three-yard run by Terry Kirby set up 3rd & 7 where Grbac fired a pass over the middle for Popson who made the catch for the 17-yard touchdown to put the 49ers on the board and cut the Bengals' lead to 21-7 with exactly six minutes left in the second quarter.

It looked like the 49ers had turned the game around especially after their defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back at the San Francisco 47-yard-line, only to give right back to the Bengals when Grbac's pass intended for Popson was intercepted by Tovar to give Cincinnati the ball at its 30-yard-line.

The 49ers would force another three-and-out to get the ball back at their 29-yard-line as Grbac would complete four of his next five passes for 30 yards to push San Francisco to the Bengals' 41-yard-line where they faced a 4th & 4 as the two-minute warning hit.

Instead of punting the ball away, Seifert decided to go for the 1st down as Grbac tried to do his best Steve Young impression and run for the 1st down.

Grbac would be stopped two yards short of the 1st down by Bengals defensive back Corey Sawyer which not only gave the ball to the Bengals at their 39-yard-line but also knocked Grbac out of the game as he landed hard on his left shoulder.

The Bengals would drive to the 49ers' 42-yard-line before punting the ball back to San Francisco who took a knee to run out the clock in the first half with Cincinnati on top 21-7.

When the 49ers' offense came out onto the field to start the second half, they did so with Young at quarterback as San Francisco had the ball at its 25-yard-line.

Two running plays picked up five yards to set up 3rd & 5 when Young connected with Rice on a 19-yard completion to give the 49ers a fresh set of downs at their 49-yard-line.

Young would then hit Kirby for six yards and then Rice again for six yards to put the 49ers at the Bengals' 39-yard-line when Young found a wide open Popson for a 39-yard touchdown to bring San Francisco to within a touchdown at 21-14 with 11:33 left in the third quarter.

49ers tight end Ted Popson caught eight passes for 116 yards and scored two touchdowns.

Both teams would trade punts until the 5:35 mark of the third quarter when the 49ers had the ball at their four-yard-line facing a 3rd & 12 when Young hit Owens for 19 yards and a 1st down at the San Francisco 23-yard-line.

Young would connect with Owens again, this time for 13 yards to give the 49ers a 1st down at its 36-yard-line which was followed by two straight passes to Kirby for eight yards followed by a five-yard-run by Young to put San Francisco at its 49-yard-line.

That is when Young threw deep trying to connect with the Rice only to have the future Hall-of-Famer bobble the ball into the air and into the hands of Orlando who made the interception at the Cincinnati 13-yard-line.

The Bengals would go three-and-out to punt the ball back to the 49ers who took over at their 41-yard-line as Young handed the ball off to Dexter Carter who ran for 18 yards and a 1st down at the Bengals' 41-yard-line as the third quarter came to an end with San Francisco still trailing 21-14.

Young would completed a 24-yard pass to Floyd to start the first quarter to give the 49ers a 1st down at the Cincinnati 17-yard-line where three plays later the 49ers would be faced with a 4th & 2 at the nine-yard-line.

Once again, Seifert decided to go for the 1st down and this time he got it as Young was able to run for three yards to pick up the 1st down at the Bengals' six-yard-line.

However on 3rd & goal from the seven-yard-line, Young would throw his third interception of the game as he tried to lob a pass to Kirby only to have Bengals cornerback Jimmy Spencer make the pick to end the 49ers' drive at the Cincinnati two-yard-line.

The two teams would exchange punts until the 49ers had the ball at their 12-yard-line with 3:37 remaining in regulation and needing a touchdown to tie the game.

Young would find Popson for five yards to start the drive then handed the ball off to Kirby who picked up nine yards and a 1st down at the San Francisco 26-yard-line.

Young would then run for 12 yards and another 1st down at the 49ers' 38-yard-line which was followed by a five-yard pass to Kirby, then a 12-yard pass to Popson to give San Francisco another 1st down at the Bengals' 45-yard-line.

That is when Young went deep and fired a pass down the right side of the field for Owens who made the catch for a 45-yard touchdown, the first of his NFL career, that with Jeff Wilkins' extra point tied the game at 21 with 2:08 left in regulation.

Terrell Owens had four catches for 94 yards and one touchdown.

With their 21-point lead having been evaporated, the Bengals needed to put together a drive in hopes of producing at least a potential game-winning field goal.

Blake would throw two straight incomplete passes before being picked off by 49ers nickel defensive back Dedrick Dodge giving the 49ers the ball at the Bengals' 32-yard-line with 1:40 left on the clock.

An incomplete pass followed by a six-yard run by Floyd set up 3rd & 4 when Young connected with Rice for 11 yards and a 1st down at the Bengals' 15-yard-line.

That is when Young faked a handoff to Floyd and ran around the left end as he hobbled his way into the end zone for the 15-yard touchdown to give the 49ers their first lead of the game at 28-21 with 1:08 left on the clock.

The Bengals would get one last chance to save themselves but turn it over on downs as Blake's pass on 4th & 2 from the Cincinnati 33-yard-line fell incomplete giving the ball back to the 49ers who would take a knee to run out the clock to come away with the 28-21 victory.

The loss to the 49ers was the end of the road for Shula as he was fired the next day and replaced by offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet who led the Bengals to a 7-2 record over the rest of the 1996 season as the Bengals finished with a 8-8 record, their best since the 1990 season.

However, it would take eight more seasons before the Bengals would finish with a winning record as they went 11-5 in 2005 to end their streak of 14 consecutive losing seasons.

As for the 49ers, they would claw their way to a 12-4 record which most years would have been good enough to clinch the NFC West, but because they were swept by the Panthers in the regular season, San Francisco had to play a Wild Card game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The 49ers would win that game 14-0 but it came with a price as Young sustained broken ribs after running for a touchdown, which lead to his removal the following week against the Green Bay Packers as the Packers defeated the 49ers 35-14 to end their season and Seifert's tenure as head coach as he resigned following a contract dispute to finish with a 98-30 record in his eight seasons in San Francisco.