Cincinnati Bengals · Franchise era 2 of 6
Two AFC championships: the Cincinnati Bengals story
Franchise era
1980—1991
Two AFC championships
Cincinnati Bengals
The story in one sentence
Forrest Gregg's 1981 team and Sam Wyche's no-huddle 1988 team each reached the Super Bowl, both falling late to San Francisco.
Anderson and Esiason lead different Super Bowl teams
Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason and Anthony Muñoz gave the era its recognizable core.
Its ending created the conditions for the lost decade.
Timeline
How it unfolded
Before 1980
What came before
Brown built Cincinnati with modern organization and passing concepts, reaching the playoffs in the team's third season and developing Anderson into its leader.
1982-01-24
Super Bowl: Cincinnati Bengals vs San Francisco 49ers
1989-01-08
Conference Championship: Buffalo Bills vs Cincinnati Bengals
1989-01-22
Super Bowl: Cincinnati Bengals vs San Francisco 49ers
After 1991
What came next
Cincinnati went fourteen seasons without a winning record even as Dillon and a handful of draft successes supplied isolated excellence.
The core