1980 Steelers 28 at Bengals 30

[mcmillenandwife]

1980 Steelers 28 at Bengals 30

The Steelers start miserably, turning the ball over on 3 consecutive plays including an INT return for a TD to give Cinci an easy 10-0 lead. But Bradshaw soon begins to dissect the Bengals secondary, hitting Smith for a 45 yard TD and Swannie for TD's of 8 and 68 yards. Again turnovers plague the Steelers as a muffed punt leads to a Cinci TD and finally, Pollard's fumble of a kickoff in the final minutes of the game leads to the winning FG for Cinci. Bradshaw moves the Steelers into position for a 51 yard FG attempt on the final play, but Bahr's kick sails wide. This game marked the beginning of the end of the Steelers dynasty, as injuries to numerous key players would prove to be too much to overcome down the stretch.

[Guest]

This game was just like the 1979 game in Riverfront! 6 turnovers and a pick 6! The Steelers stayed in this game! Those terrible turnovers. They gave this one away!

[mcmillenandwife]

This game was just like the 1979 game in Riverfront! 6 turnovers and a pick 6! The Steelers stayed in this game! Those terrible turnovers. They gave this one away!

Yeah, both '80 games vs Cinci were giveaways. Difficult to watch... 

[Guest]

The two games with Cincinnati were extremely close. The Steelers could have easily had an 11-5 record, if they win both of those games

[mcmillenandwife]

The two games with Cincinnati were extremely close. The Steelers could have easily had an 11-5 record, if they win both of those games

Indeed. Lots of close games in 1980. They should've won the 27-26 loss to Cleveland as well (the game with half our starters out due to injury). Up 26-14 in the 4th quarter and blew it. Missed PAT came back to haunt us. The Steelers really suffered from terrible place kicking in '80 - '81. 

Even if we had made the playoffs, I don't feel like the 1980 team had quite enough gas left in the tank at the end of the season to take it all the way.

[Guest]

I agree. The Steelers should have been 11-5 or 12-4 in 80. These two Bengal games are terrible. Makes one think that maybe if they had kept Roy Gerela it might have made a difference. Old Roy was not always reliable, but he usually made the kicks that counted.

[mcmillenandwife]

Oh, to have had Gary Anderson in '80-'81... 

[Guest]

The two games with Cincinnati were extremely close. The Steelers could have easily had an 11-5 record, if they win both of those games

Indeed. Lots of close games in 1980. They should've won the 27-26 loss to Cleveland as well (the game with half our starters out due to injury). Up 26-14 in the 4th quarter and blew it. Missed PAT came back to haunt us. The Steelers really suffered from terrible place kicking in '80 - '81. 

Even if we had made the playoffs, I don't feel like the 1980 team had quite enough gas left in the tank at the end of the season to take it all the way.

Yes, but don't underestimate momentum. If the Steelers pull out these close ones, that can energize the team. Instead, they come up short and that deflates you, and it's harder to bounce back, especially if you're getting old. 

[joegreene]

This was the game that coming in Joe Greene, when asked if the Steelers were flat, said that every team they faced was playing like they were in the Super Bowl. "And they're making great plays," he added.

[danderson400]

I don't make a comment about the announcers usually, but Criqui and Brodie are really good. Why weren't they the no. 1 team at NBC instead of Dick and Merlin?

[mcmillenandwife]

I don't make a comment about the announcers usually, but Criqui and Brodie are really good. Why weren't they the no. 1 team at NBC instead of Dick and Merlin?

I agree that Criqui and Brodie were really good... but Enberg/Olsen was always my favorite team.

[mcmillenandwife]

I don't make a comment about the announcers usually, but Criqui and Brodie are really good. Why weren't they the no. 1 team at NBC instead of Dick and Merlin?

I agree that Criqui and Brodie were really good... but Enberg/Olsen was always my favorite team. One guy I didn't really care for at times was Bob Trumpy. Maybe it was his Cinci Bungle background?

[Crash]

Trumpy used to interrupt the play by play man constantly DURING a play. Droves me nuts.

[danderson400]

Agreed with you about Dick and Merlin. I never got to hear Bordie, but i could never stand Trumpy. CBS seemed to be boring, expect for Stram or the Summerall/Madden combo. I can't remember who the partner for Stram was in the 90s, Tim Ryan?

[mcmillenandwife]

CBS seemed to be boring, expect for Stram or the Summerall/Madden combo. 

Yeah, and I was never really a big Madden fan. Summerall was the consummate pro, but Madden... man, I dunno. I always just pictured him in the booth, hunched over the mic like an ogre and eating a greasy pork sandwich, leaving a greasy mess everywhere and just babbling incessantly about whatever popped in his head (which was usually something about Brett Favre).    I mostly just wanted him to shut up and stop sucking all the air out of the room with master-of-the-obvious statements like, “They’re either going to run the ball here or they're going to pass it," or talking about Mark Brunell liking to "soak his balls" before rainy games (real quote, look it up). 

I, for one, am not interested in Mark Brunell's balls. 

[Guest]

Don Criqui said that Stallworth was only expected to be out four weeks with his fractured leg. I think he tried to come back vs. Tampa but never played again after that. Bahr nearly made that kick, but it wasn't meant to be.

Also, Cincinnati ran on the Steelers like few I've seen from that era in this game. It was virtually the same club that won the AFC Title in '81.

[Garrett Garlits]

To answer Danderson's question, Stram had a different partner almost every year on CBS, including Curt Gowdy, Vin Scully and his radio partner Jack Buck. Among his partners in the nineties were Jim Nantz (yes, the same one who's number one at CBS today), Sean McDonough (the current voice of Monday Night Football) and NHL broadcasting legend Mike "Doc" Emrick.

After the game, there are brief highlight clips of both Steelers-Bengals and Browns-Chiefs, along with a segment from Steelers '80 (WIIC's pregame show) with host Bill Currie and defensive line coach Woody Wiedenhofer, who spends a lot of time criticizing the decision-making of winning Bengals QB Jack "The Throwin' Samoan" Thompson.