Bengals Super Bowl History: Revisiting Super Bowl XVI

This was originally posted on June 7, 2006 (yes, we've been around THAT long).

I make a long commute each day to and from work. After that, I walk several blocks to get into my office. As I flopped in my chair armed with a week's worth of coffee ready to be consumed in a matter of hours, I got a nice surprise on my desk. A DVD of Super Bowl XVI.

Here's a few quick notes I observed watching the game.

• This was a tale of two halves. The first half the 49ers outscored the Bengals 20-0. In the second half, the Bengals scored 21; including 14 in the fourth quarter. The 49ers in the second half, on their first three drives, went three and out.
• Ross Browner and Reggie Williams are studs and no doubt would be starters today.
• Pete Johnson has a running style and makeup that resembles Rudi Johnson.
• Rookies in this game included Cris Collinsworth and Ronnie Lott.
• Jim Breech had two kickoffs roll out of bounds.
• The Bengals kickoff return team, if the ball bounced on the ground, looked lost.
• Joe Montana was Super Bowl MVP. But Kenny Anderson, other than two interceptions, had far superior numbers. Of course, with a 20 point lead going into the third quarter, San Francisco's offense shut it down.
• Forrest Gregg could be the inspiration for Craig T. Nelson's look in the old T.V. show Coach. He never really got made or reacted -- but he just looked pissed off 59 minutes of the game.

Other notes:

• The crowd. Today you see celebrities and white collar folk get most of the tickets. For the most part, today's Super Bowl crowd is there just to see the game. The crowd in Super Bowl XVI looked like a college football game. One half of the stadium was 49er fans and the other half were Bengals fans. If their team did something good, a mass group of fans in that section would stand and cheer. Seems like as time rolls on, that type of atmosphere has died; the big game is primarily a VIP member's only club.
• This was the first Super Bowl with the Pat Summerall/John Madden tandem. One of the funniest moments I've heard in a long time came from Madden. The ball was spotted and a measurement was required. Madden with his coach mentality said "it's good". Summerall wasn't so sure. So Madden quips, "Through 20 years of coaching, I've never been wrong on a spot". Summerall silent.
• This was the first non-warm weathered Super Bowl, taking place in Detroit.

Do any of you have memories?
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