By Zane Miller
On November 16th, 1969, the Boston (now New England) Patriots defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 25-14, giving the Patriots just their second win on the season while the Bengals fell to a 4-5-1 record in the American Football League standings. Although there were still four games remaining in the schedule for the Bengals, this would be their final home game of the year and, more notably, their final game played at Nippert Stadium.
When the Cincinnati Bengals were named as an AFL expansion franchise before the 1968 season, this was done with the understanding that a brand new multi-use stadium would be completed within the next couple of years. Indeed, construction began on Riverfront Stadium in the early months of that year, but the Bengals would need a temporary facility to call home in the meantime. Enter Nippert Stadium, which had opened as a permanent structure 53 years earlier under the name Carson Field. It had hosted the University of Cincinnati football since its opening and contained a seating capacity of 28,000 in 1968. While the AFL preferred stadiums with a capacity of almost twice that amount, Nippert Stadium was still approved as a temporary venue with the new stadium right around the corner. Ironically, the AFL itself would not be around by the time Riverfront Stadium was completed.
As you can imagine, the Bengals made plenty of history at Nippert Stadium, such as scoring their first victory in team history on September 15th, 1968, defeating the visiting Denver Broncos 24-10. In that same game, tight end Bob Trumpy caught a pass from quarterback John Stofa, before taking it the rest of the way downfield for a 58-yard score and the team’s first home touchdown.
The team remained at home for the next week against the Buffalo Bills, where defensive back Charlie King provided the Bengals’ first defensive score after running back an interception of Bills quarterback Kay Stephenson. Cincinnati went on to beat the Bills 34-23, but would fail to win at home for the rest of the season. They eventually scored their first safety in franchise history at Nippert Stadium later that year, as on October 20th against the Miami Dolphins, defensive lineman Harry Gunner sacked Miami quarterback Bob Griese in the end zone, but the Bengals still lost 24-22. Despite the strong start, the Bengals ended the year last in the Western Division at a 3-11 record.
The 1969 season played out very similarly to the year before, as the Bengals jumped out to a three-game winning streak to begin the season. All of these games were at home, as the team took down the Dolphins, San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs in that order. However, the team struggled afterwards, losing four games straight before taking what would be their final victory at Nippert Stadium on November 2nd with a 31-17 defeat of the Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders. The week before their matchup against the Patriots, the Bengals faced the Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans) in the Astrodome where the first tie in franchise history took place as Cincinnati kicker Horst Muhlmann kicked the game-tying field goal with 22 seconds remaining to end the contest in a 31-31 draw (the AFL did not have an overtime period for regular season games). The results of the last two games gave the Bengals some momentum going back home, but unfortunately, it would evaporate by the end of the first quarter.
After the Patriots methodically worked their way down the field only to be held to a short field goal to start the game, the Bengals went three-and-out to give the ball right back to Boston.
While the Patriots were also forced to punt, Boston’s Tom Janik pinned the Bengals inside their own one-yard line. The Patriots only needed one play to score again, as cornerback Daryl Johnson stopped running back Jess Phillips in the backfield for a safety, giving them a 5-0 lead.
With the Patriots retaining possession due to the two-pointer, it didn’t take long for them to take advantage as starting quarterback Mike Taliaferro found wideout Ron Sellers for a 30-yard touchdown. The ensuing kickoff was also a disaster for Cincinnati, as Boston’s Clarence Scott recovered a fumble from returner John Guillory. This sent the already exhausted Bengals defense back on the field, where they stood no chance as Taliaferro hit veteran wide receiver Charley Frazier for yet another touchdown. The first quarter mercifully came to an end with the Patriots in front 19-0.
Once the second quarter started, the Bengals were able to find their footing as their impressive rookie quarterback Greg Cook connected with wide receiver Eric Crabtree from 15 yards out to get on the board and cut the lead to 19-7. However, the Patriots didn’t take that lying down as running back Jim Nance, who would later be named as a second-team All-Pro that year, rumbled for a 43-yard gain and the longest play from scrimmage on the day. This set up another successful field goal, and the teams went into halftime with the score at 22-7.
Although the second half started with a missed field goal from Patriots kicker Gino Cappelletti, he would redeem himself shortly after with a 43-yard try to make it a three-possession game once again. The Bengals were unable to score in the third quarter, but led off the final frame with a 50-yard bomb from Cook to recently acquired wide receiver Chip Myers. Just two plays later, Cook found Myers again for a 20-yard gain, setting up Phillips for a four-yard touchdown rush.
Hope for a comeback was still alive after the Patriots were forced to punt, but the ensuing Bengals drive went nowhere and the Bengals’ punt was blocked by Scott, who was having a monster game on special teams. Boston was unable to capitalize as their drive ended with a missed field goal, but still succeeded in running a significant amount of time off the clock.
In what would be the final drive of the afternoon for the Bengals, Cook started off strong with a 35-yard completion to Crabtree and a 16-yarder to Trumpy. On the next pass attempt, though, Cook was picked off by Janik (who served as a defensive back as well as the Patriots’ punter) to effectively end the game. The Patriots ran out the clock from there, winning it 25-14. Taliaferro grabbed the win with a pair of touchdown passes and 96 passing yards, while Cook was hit with the loss after having one touchdown pass for 213 yards, but also giving up three interceptions.
Neither the Bengals nor the Patriots were particularly successful in 1969, as the Bengals again finished last in their division at 4-9-1, while Boston wound up with a 4-10 showing. In 1970, the Bengals’ new home of Riverfront Stadium was ready just in time for their entry into the NFL following the merger’s completion, the team has not returned to Nippert Stadium since. Nippert still serves as the home of Cincinnati Bearcat football to this day, so it is theoretically possible that the Bengals could return to the stadium under some type of strange circumstances. Although the team’s run at Nippert Stadium was less than stellar, it was still the site of many important firsts in franchise history.
Link to stats database: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/196911160cin.htm
Credit to Professional Football Researchers Association for play-by-play stats
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