Super Bowl power rankings: Who’s the best loser?
By John Buhler
13. 1981 Cincinnati Bengals, Super Bowl XVI
Super Bowl XVI had two emerging teams playing in their first ever Super Bowls: the AFC-champion Cincinnati Bengals of Forrest Gregg and the NFC-champion San Francisco 49ers of Bill Walsh. This game would go down to the wire with the 49ers defeating the Bengals, 26-21 in Super Bowl XVI at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit.
The Bengals went 12-4 and won the AFC Central. They beat the Buffalo Bills 28-21 in the Divisional round and the San Diego Chargers in what is now known as the “Freezer Bowl” in the AFC Championship, 27-7, one of the coldest games ever played in NFL history.
Quarterback Ken Anderson of the Bengals was the NFL MVP and Cincinnati was a one-point underdog to the 49ers in Super Bowl XVI. Cincinnati would do its best to overcome a 20-0 deficit at halftime, outscoring the 49ers 21-6 in the second half. However, that deficit proved too great, as the Bengals would go on to lose Super Bowl XVI, 26-21.
The 49ers were not a dynasty at the time and frankly Anderson was the better quarterback that year over Joe Montana of San Francisco, who would go on to win Super Bowl XVI MVP. These same two teams would meet seven years later in Miami for Super Bowl XXIII, with the 49ers winning again.
By that time, the 49ers had already won two of its five Lombardi Trophies en route to becoming one of the proudest franchises in NFL history. Had the 1981 Bengals been able to generate any offensive in the first half of Super Bowl XVI, then maybe the Bengals wouldn’t still be chasing its first Lombardi Trophy. It was close between these two teams, but the Bengals came up a touchdown short.
Next: 12. 1980 Philadelphia Eagles