Bengals Dance Past Bills, 21-10

CINCINNATI--The Cincinnati Bengals shuffled through the Jungle and into the Super Bowl yesterday.

With star rookie running back Ickey Woods prancing into the end zone twice and running for 102 yards on 29 carries, the Bengals won their second AFC championshp with a 21-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills at Riverfront Stadium, better known as "The Jungle."

The Bengals, Super Bowl losers in 1982 to San Francisco, will face the 49ers January 22 in Miami.

It was a remarkable turnaround for Cincinnati and Coach Sam Wyche. The Bengals finished 4-11 a year ago, and Wyche was criticized for gambling too much on offense. This year, the Bengals are 14-4, and a gamble was key to yesterday's triumph.

"Especially after last year, to be this victorious is great," Cincinnati quarterback Boomer Esiason said.

"I'm sure happy we stuck with what we had," said Bengals owner Paul Brown, who won four NFL titles as coach of the Cleveland Browns in the 1950s and 1960s.

Woods scored on a pair of one-yard runs, while the Bengals' defense outperformed the vaunted Buffalo defense, holding the Bills to minus 12 yards in the third quarter and ending their only real drive of the second half with an interception in the end zone.

With their no-huddle offense virtually scrapped by rare, game-day league legislation, the Bengals went to a no-punt offense in their clinching touchdown drive.

An NFL edict before the game assured that the Bengals would not use a quick snap to draw a penalty against Buffalo for too many players on the field. Bills Coach Marv Levy had complained about such a tactic.

No Problem

It didn't matter. Woods and the defense, helped by the kicking game, saw to that.

"It bothered us. It aggravated the situation a little bit, but we kept out poise," Wyche said. "The ball club proved one thing, that when things don't go by the script, we can do things a little differently."

The Bengals also benefited from a roughing penalty late in the third quarter against Derrick Burroughs in the end zone for which the cornerback was ejected. It came after Woods was thrown for a three-yard loss and gave Cincinnati a first-and-goal at the 4.

After Burroughs' penalty, Woods went three yards, then scored. And danced.