Today in 1987 - San Francisco 49ers vs Cincinnati Bengals

September 20, 1987 – Today in 1987, the Cincinnati Bengals hosted the San Francisco 49ers at Riverfront Stadium in a Week 2 contest.

Cincinnati struck first blood with a 2 yard rushing touchdown by Larry Kinnebrew.  Jim Breech added to Cincy’s lead with a 23 yard field goal.  At the end of the first quarter, the Bengals led 10-0.

In the second quarter, the 49ers scored with a 38 yard touchdown pass from Joe Montana to Mike Wilson.  The Bengals answered with a 46 yard touchdown pass from Boomer Esiason to Rodney Holman and a 42 yard Breech field goal.  Cincinnati led 20-7 at halftime.

How many times have we seen this?  The third quarter belonged to the 49ers.  San Francisco scored on a 34 yard pass from Montana to Jerry Rice.  Ray Wersching kicked a 24 and 31 yard field goal, and at the end of the quarter, the game was tied 20-20.

But the Bengals wouldn’t cave.  In the fourth quarter, Breech kicked field goal from 41 and 46 yards to take the lead 26-20.

Okay, wait for it…

San Francisco had one of those famous Joe Montana comebacks, when Montana threw a 25 yard pass to (who else?) Jerry Rice.  The San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 27-26. 

Both teams went to 1-1.  Montana passed 21-37 250 yards 3TDs.  Wilson had 7 catches for 104 yards.  Rice had 4 catches for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Esiason passed 14-29 180 yards TD INT.  He also ruched 10 times for 5 yards.  Kinnebrew rushed 22-64 yards and had a catch for 5 yards.  Cris Collinsworth had 3 catches for 32 yards.

Notables

• There were 7 Hall of Famers present in this game: Joe Montana, Steve Young Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, and head coach Bill Walsh for the 49ers, and Anthony Munoz and defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau for the Bengals.
  
• This was Sam Wyche’s fourth season coaching the Bengals.  He coached the team from 1984-91.  He led the team to a Super Bowl appearance in the 1988 season against none other than the 49ers.
  
• This was Bill Walsh’s ninth season coaching the 49ers.  He coached the team from 1979-88 and led the team to four Super Bowl championships, including Super Bowl XXIII, when the Niners beat the Bengals on a Montana to John Taylor touchdown pass, 20-16.
  
• Wyche was a quarterback for the Bengals from 1968-70.
  
• Future head coaches Bruce Coslet and Dick LeBeau were the offensive and defensive coordinators for the Bengals.  Both men ended up becoming the head coach of the team; Coslet from 1996-2000 and LeBeau from 2000-02.
  
• Coslet and Wyche were teammates with the Bengals from 1969-70.  Coslet played for Cincinnati from 1969-76. 
  
• Future Super Bowl winning head coaches George Seifert and Mike Holmgren were assistant coaches with the 49ers.  Seifert led the Niners to two Super Bowl championships and Holmgren led the Green Bay Packers to two Super Bowl appearances, winning one, and the Seattle Seahawks to its first Super Bowl appearance.
  
• This was the last week before the NFL strike began.  There was no football in Week 3 and there were replacement games for the next three weeks before the strike ended.

Game stats and other data can be found on Pro-Football-Reference.com at San Francisco 49ers vs Cincinnati Bengals - September 20, 1987.