Wild Card Round: New York Jets at Cincinnati Bengals (Riverfront Stadium), the bracket opens here. Kickoff: Sun January 9, 1983 at 12:30pm. Winner advances to the divisional round. Loser starts the offseason early.[1][2]
Wild card weekend is the most chaotic football the calendar produces. New York Jets at Cincinnati Bengals at Riverfront Stadium is the kind of game that decides whether a season was a long buildup or a quick exit. These are the games where the second-tier playoff teams have to prove they belong. Most don't. The few who do define the rest of January.
The bracket has narrowed to the teams that survived the regular season. New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengals are two of them; the rest of the league is in scouting mode for the offseason. What happens in Riverfront Stadium shifts the rest of the tree: a road favorite winning rearranges seeding expectations; a home upset shows the bracket math underweights heart.
New York Jets versus Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card Round. The teams who reach this round have already proven they survive a long schedule; the stats that matter most now are the ones that compress: scoring differential, red-zone efficiency, turnover margin. At this stage of the year, the simple math is that defenses tighten and the team that protects the ball wins more often than the team that scores the most. Whichever side of New York Jets-Cincinnati Bengals cleans up the careless plays first usually walks out with the result. Conservative-game expectations should not surprise the reader; both staffs know exactly what worked all season and will lean hard on what travels. The early answer is the kicking game, where any swing of field position compounds.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7-2 | W2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6-3 | W2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 4-5 | L1 |
| Houston Oilers | 1-8 | L7 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Miami Dolphins | 7-2 | W3 |
| New York Jets | 6-3 | L1 |
| New England Patriots | 5-4 | W1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 4-5 | L3 |
| Baltimore Colts | 0-8-1 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Raiders | 8-1 | W5 |
| San Diego Chargers | 6-3 | L1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4-5 | W1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 3-6 | W1 |
| Denver Broncos | 2-7 | L3 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | 5-4 | L2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 4-5 | W1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 3-6 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 2-7 | W1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | 5-3-1 | L1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 5-4 | W1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5-4 | W3 |
| Detroit Lions | 4-5 | W1 |
| Chicago Bears | 3-6 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Redskins | 8-1 | W4 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 6-3 | L2 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5-4 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 4-5 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3-6 | L1 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Bengals | Isaac Curtis 32 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Jim Breech kick) | 0-7 |
| Jets | Pat Leahy 33 yard field goal | 3-7 |
| Bengals | Dan Ross 2 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Jim Breech kick) | 3-14 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Jets | Derrick Gaffney 14 yard pass from Freeman McNeil (Pat Leahy kick) | 10-14 |
| Jets | Wesley Walker 4 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick) | 17-14 |
| Jets | Pat Leahy 24 yard field goal | 20-14 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Jets | Pat Leahy 47 yard field goal | 23-14 |
| Bengals | Jim Breech 20 yard field goal | 23-17 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Jets | Freeman McNeil 20 yard rush (Pat Leahy kick) | 30-17 |
| Jets | Darrol Ray 98 yard interception return (Pat Leahy kick) | 37-17 |
| Jets | Dwayne Crutchfield 1 yard rush (Pat Leahy kick) | 44-17 |
New York Jets defeated Cincinnati Bengals 44-17 at Riverfront Stadium in the Wild Card Round. The final scoring play was Jets: Dwayne Crutchfield 1 yard rush (Pat Leahy kick). The 27-point margin made it a one-sided afternoon. Top line of the day: Ken Anderson: 354 pass yards on 26-of-35, 2 TD, 3 INT. New York Jets advance to the divisional round.[1][2]
New York Jets walked out of Riverfront Stadium as the team that survived a Wild Card Round Cincinnati Bengals will replay in its head for the entire offseason. The scoreboard says 44-17. This was a 27-point margin, which is unusual for this round of the postseason and tells a story about which staff out-prepared the other from the opening series. The final scoring play came from Jets: Dwayne Crutchfield 1 yard rush (Pat Leahy kick). Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier. New York Jets advance to the divisional round.
New York Jets 44, Cincinnati Bengals 17.
Round: Wild Card Round.
Q1: 3 scoring plays.
Q2: 3 scoring plays.
Q3: 2 scoring plays.
Q4: 3 scoring plays.
Top performers:
- Ken Anderson: 354 pass yards on 26-of-35, 2 TD, 3 INT
- Freeman McNeil: 202 rush yards on 21 carries
- Wesley Walker: 8 catches for 145 yards
Wild Card Round, played at Riverfront Stadium. Final: New York Jets 44, Cincinnati Bengals 17, with New York Jets taking the result by 27.
First quarter
- Bengals: Isaac Curtis 32 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Jim Breech kick)
- Jets: Pat Leahy 33 yard field goal
- Bengals: Dan Ross 2 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Jim Breech kick)
Second quarter
- Jets: Derrick Gaffney 14 yard pass from Freeman McNeil (Pat Leahy kick)
- Jets: Wesley Walker 4 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick)
- Jets: Pat Leahy 24 yard field goal
Third quarter
- Jets: Pat Leahy 47 yard field goal
- Bengals: Jim Breech 20 yard field goal
Fourth quarter
- Jets: Freeman McNeil 20 yard rush (Pat Leahy kick)
- Jets: Darrol Ray 98 yard interception return (Pat Leahy kick)
- Jets: Dwayne Crutchfield 1 yard rush (Pat Leahy kick)
Top performers
- Ken Anderson: 354 pass yards on 26-of-35, 2 TD, 3 INT
- Freeman McNeil: 202 rush yards on 21 carries
- Wesley Walker: 8 catches for 145 yards
The 27-point margin says most of what needs saying about how the day went; the box score is the rest.
| Jets | Bengals | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 27 | 23 |
| Total Yards | 517 | 395 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 4 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 21/29 | 26/36 |
| Pass yards | 283 | 354 |
| Pass TD | 2 | 2 |
| Interceptions | 1 | 3 |
| Sacks taken | 0 | 4 |
| Sack yards lost | 0 | 21 |
| Net pass yards | 283 | 333 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 34 | 21 |
| Rush yards | 234 | 62 |
| Rush TD | 2 | 0 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 2 | 2 |
| Fumbles lost | 1 | 1 |
| Penalties | 12 | 7 |
| Penalty yards | 95 | 60 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYJ | |||||
| Richard Todd | 20/28 | 269 | 1 | 1 | 98.7 |
| Freeman McNeil | 1/1 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 158.3 |
| CIN | |||||
| Ken Anderson | 26/35 | 354 | 2 | 3 | 89.5 |
| Turk Schonert | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYJ | ||||
| Freeman McNeil | 21 | 202 | 1 | 35 |
| Scott Dierking | 3 | 11 | 0 | 9 |
| Bruce Harper | 2 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Tom Newton | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| Richard Todd | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| Mike Augustyniak | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Dwayne Crutchfield | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| CIN | ||||
| Pete Johnson | 9 | 26 | 0 | 14 |
| Archie Griffin | 3 | 17 | 0 | 8 |
| Charles Alexander | 7 | 14 | 0 | 6 |
| Ken Anderson | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYJ | ||||
| Wesley Walker | 8 | 145 | 1 | 49 |
| Derrick Gaffney | 4 | 50 | 1 | 20 |
| Bruce Harper | 2 | 35 | 0 | 19 |
| Lam Jones | 2 | 22 | 0 | 12 |
| Freeman McNeil | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Scott Dierking | 2 | 9 | 0 | 5 |
| Jerome Barkum | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Mike Augustyniak | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| CIN | ||||
| Cris Collinsworth | 7 | 120 | 0 | 53 |
| Dan Ross | 6 | 89 | 1 | 26 |
| Isaac Curtis | 3 | 63 | 1 | 32 |
| Steve Kreider | 3 | 41 | 0 | 12 |
| M.L. Harris | 1 | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| Archie Griffin | 3 | 14 | 0 | 6 |
| Pete Johnson | 3 | 7 | 0 | 9 |
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