NFL Old School Game of the Week: Bengals Clinch AFC Central Title with OT Win over Redskins

The Bengals begin to celebrate after Jim Breech's field goal gave them the AFC Central championship with their overtime win over the Redskins.

The Cincinnati Bengals entered the final game of the 1988 regular season locked into the postseason but their seeding still up for grabs as Cincinnati needed one more win to the AFC Central division title plus a Buffalo Bills loss to clinch home field advantage throughout the NFL playoffs.

The Bengals were led by head coach Sam Wyche, who was in his fifth season as the Cincinnati head coach, but had seemingly came into the 1988 season on the hot seat as Cincinnati went 4-11 in 1987 which led to Wyche feuding with his starting quarterback Boomer Esiason.

For the '88 season, Wyche decided to install a no-huddle offense as the normal Bengals offense which under the direction of Esiason, scored 428 points through the first 15 games of the season as the left-handed quarterback would end up as the league's top rated passer.

To go along with Esiason, the Bengals featured the league's top rushing attack with running backs James Brooks and rookie Ickey Woods, who had gained notoriety throughout the country with his touchdown dance known as the "Ickey Shuffle".

Esiason, Woods, Wyche and the Bengals came into the regular season finale with a 11-4 record with a chance to clinch Cincinnati's first division title since 1981 when the Bengals made it all the way to the Super Bowl.

While the Bengals were looking to secure their playoff position, the Redskins were hoping to avoid their first losing season since 1980 as Washington came into the game with a 7-8 record having lost five of their previous seven games to knock them out of playoff contention.

The Redskins were led by Joe Gibbs, who was in his eighth season as the Washington head coach, having led the Skins to two Super Bowl titles including one 11 months earlier when quarterback Doug Williams threw four touchdowns in a 35-point second quarter as the Redskins routed the Denver Broncos 42-10.

Williams was joined in the backfield by rookie running back Jamie Morris, the younger brother of Giants running back Joe Morris, who had taken over the starting running back from Super Bowl hero Timmy Smith, who had a disappointing 1988 season after running for 204 yards in the Redskins' Super Bowl win.

Despite having just 81 carries up to this point in the season, Morris would be the workhouse for the Redskins in their final game of the 1988 season.

 The Bengals got the ball to start the game as they would drive from their 23-yard-line to the Redskins' 22-yard-line, thanks in large part to a 46-yard pass from Esiason to wide receiver Eddie Brown to help set up a 40-yard field goal attempt by Jim Breech, only for the kick to fall short of the uprights to keep the game scoreless.

The Redskins would begin their first possession of the game at their 22-yard-line as they would drive 52 yards in 10 plays with Morris carrying six times for 25 yards while Williams completed three of four passes for 27 yards on the drive which ended with a 43-yard field goal by Chip Lohmiller to give Washington a 3-0 lead with 5:27 left in the first quarter.

After a Cincinnati three-and-out, the Redskins would start its next drive at their 35-yard-line as they would move to the Bengals' 39-yard-line when Morris appeared to have fumble the football when he was stripped of the ball by defensive tackle David Grant leading to a recovery by strong safety Soloman Wilcots.

However, the referees ruled that the whistle had blown before Morris lost the football even though replay showed that he was not down before the fumble, which meant the Redskins kept the football at the Bengals' 35-yard-line as the first quarter came to an end.

Five plays later, Williams found Ricky Sanders for a 20-yard touchdown to increase the Redskins' lead to 10-0 with 12:33 left in the second quarter.

Redskins running back Jamie Morris carried the ball 45 times as he ran for 152 yards.

The Bengals would get the ball back at their 15-yard-line as a 24-yard run by Woods and a 19-yard pass from Esiason to wide receiver Tim McGee to put Cincinnati in Redskins territory as the drive would stall at the Washington 33-yard-line.

That is when Wyche sent in punter Lee Johnson to attempt a 50-yard field goal, instead of Breech, as Johnson would make his first career NFL field goal to cut the Redskins' lead to 10-3 with 9:03 to go in the second quarter.

Washington would start its ensuing possession at their 17-yard-line as Morris would have four carries for 29 yards to help lead the Redskins drive to the Bengals' 48-yard-line until Williams threw an interception when he was picked off by Cincinnati defensive back Ray Horton on a pass intended for Gary Clark to give the Bengals the ball at their 39-yard-line.

After the first two plays picked up only one yard, Esiason would hit McGee for 13 yards to give the Bengals a 1st down at the Washington 47-yard-line which was followed by a 15-yard run by Woods, then another Woods run for three yards, and then a 12-yard scramble by Esiason to put Cincinnati at the Redskins' 17-yard-line.

That is when Esiason fired a 17-yard touchdown pass to McGee that with Breech's extra point tied the game at 10 with 62 seconds left before halftime.

The Redskins would run out the clock with two Morris runs for 10 yards as the two teams went into the locker room deadlocked at 10 with Washington set to get the ball to start the second half.

The Redskins would start their first drive of the second half at their 31-yard-line with four runs by Morris for 14 yards followed by a 11-yard pass to Art Monk to put Washington in Cincinnati territory when Williams threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Sanders to break the 10-10 tie and give Washington a 17-10 lead.

The Bengals would hold the ball for the next seven minutes only to punt it back to the Redskins who would take over at their seven-yard-line as they moved only 14 yards on five plays to set up a 3rd & 7 at the Washington 21-yard-line when Williams threw a bomb that bounced off the hands of Cincinnati free safety David Fulcher and into the arms of Sanders for a 45-yard completion to give the Redskins a 1st down at the Bengals' 34-yard-line as the third quarter came to an end.

Following a seven-yard run by Sanders on a reverse, Morris would carry the ball four straight times for 13 yards to set up a 4th & 1 at the Bengals' 14-yard-line when Gibbs decided to go for the 1st down instead of a chip shot field goal.

The gamble would backfire as Morris would be dropped for an one-yard loss by Fulcher to give the Bengals the ball back at their 15-yard-line with 11:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Four straight running plays gained 16 yards until Esiason, playing with a sprained index finger on his throwing hand which he injured in the first quarter and a sprained ankle he suffered in the third quarter, faked a handoff to fullback Stanley Wilson, and fired a 69-yard touchdown pass to Brown that with the extra point tied the game at 17 with 8:20 left in the fourth quarter.

Washington would begin its next drive at its 21-yard-line as Williams would complete three of four passes for 25 yards to help move the Redskins into Bengals territory to the Cincinnati 49-yard-line.

After a holding penalty gave them five extra yards and a 1st down, the Redskins went back to Morris who would carry the ball on seven of the next eight plays, gaining 24 yards to help put Washington at the Bengals' 12-yard-line with 11 seconds to go when Gibbs called on Lohmiller to kick a 29-yard field goal that would give the Redskins the win and end Cincinnati's chances of home field advantage.

But Lohmiller's kick would bounce off the right upright to make the kick no good as the Bengals would take a knee to run out the remaining five seconds in regulation and send the game into overtime with both teams deadlocked at 17.

Boomer Esiason only completed 10 of 19 passes for 187 yards but threw two touchdowns.

The Bengals won the overtime coin toss and took the ball to start the extra period as Cincinnati would pick up one 1st down before punting the ball to the Redskins who would take over at their 16-yard-line with another chance to spoil the Bengals' hopes of clinching a division title.

Morris would break the record for most carries in a NFL game with his 44th carry on the first play of the drive which would only go for two yards as Williams would complete a pair of four-yard passes to give Washington a 1st down at its 26-yard-line as an incomplete pass and a two-yard run by Morris would bring up a 3rd & 8 situation.

That is when Bengals nickelback Barney Bussey sacked Williams and knocked the ball loose which was recovered by Grant to give Cincinnati the ball at the Redskins' 17-yard-line.

Following two runs by Woods for 14 yards, Wyche sent in Breech and the field goal unit to try and win the game with a chip shot 20-yard field goal.

This time Breech's kick would be true as it sailed through the uprights seven minutes into overtime to give the Bengals not only a 20-17 win but the AFC Central division title for the first time since 1981.

The loss dropped the Redskins to 7-9 marking the first and only time Washington had a losing season during Gibbs' first tenure as the Redskins head coach as the Skins would win one more Super Bowl before his resignation in 1992.

As for the Bengals, they would get the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs when the Bills lost to the Indianapolis Colts 17-14 the following day as Cincinnati would defeat the Seattle Seahawks 21-13 in the Divisional Round then beat Buffalo 21-10 in the AFC Championship Game to send the Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII where they would face the 49ers again.

The Bengals would lose in heartbreaking fashion as 49ers quarterback Joe Montana led his team 92 yards in 11 plays for the game-winning touchdown, a 10-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds left, to give San Francisco a 20-16 victory and their third Super Bowl title in the 1980s.