Looking Back At Cincinnati Bengals Legend: Ken Anderson
Ken Anderson – Cincinnati Bengals: 1971 – 1986
Since the Bengals first season in 1968, they’ve had some quality quarterback’s pilot their offense. Greg Cook, a quarterback whose career got cut short due to injury, Boomer Esiason, the 1988 NFL MVP, leading the Bengals to their second Super Bowl in franchise history, Carson Palmer, who threw for XXXX yards and XXX touchdowns in Cincinnati and of course their current star, Joe Burrow. But it’s the quarterback that led the team to their first Super Bowl, who’s the best in franchise history, Ken Anderson.
It’s been argued and said that Ken Anderson is the best player not in the Hall of Fame. He was personally scouted by the great Bill Walsh, an assistant coach with the Bengals during their early years in the NFL. The signal caller was drafted in the third round in the 1971 draft out of Augustana College. Under the teachings of Walsh, one of the best offensive minds in NFL history, Anderson is regarded as the first quarterback to run the West Coast offense successfully. He led Cincinnati to the playoffs in four different seasons, 1973, 1975, 1981 and 1982: including the club’s first Super Bowl berth in 1981 (Super Bowl XVI). Let’s look back on the career of the Bengals great.
In his rookie season in 1971, wearing number 14, Anderson started four games, going 0-4. He completed 55% of his passes for 777 yards and five touchdowns. As a second-year player, he started 13 games in 1972, going 7-6. He improved his completion percentage to 56.8, throwing for 1,918 yards and seven touchdowns.
The 1973 saw the Bengals go 10-4 and win the AFC Central, to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The third-year field general threw for 2,428 yards, 18 touchdowns with an 81.2 passer rating. In the divisional round, the Bengals, a 10-point underdog, faced the defending Super Bowl champion, Miami Dolphins. Unfortunately, they fell to the eventual Super Bowl champion Dolphins, losing 34-16. Anderson struggled in the game as he was 14-27 for 113 yards, one interception, while being sacked three times for a 47.3 passer rating.
Anderson really asserted himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL starting in 1974. In week 7 against Houston, he passed for a career-high at the time 352 yards and three touchdowns in the 34-21 loss. He led the league in completions (213), completion percentage (64.9), passing yards (2,667), passing yards per attempt (8.1), passing yards per game (205.2) and passer rating (95.7). Overall, he threw 18 touchdowns against 10 interceptions for the season. Unfortunately, the individual success did not translate to team success as Cincinnati finished the season 7-7 and did not qualify for the playoffs.
In the 1975 season, the Bengals were 11-3, finishing second in the AFC Central. Ken Anderson, selected to his first Pro-Bowl, threw 21 touchdown passes, 11 interceptions while completing 228 passes. He led the league in passing yards (3,169), average yards per passing attempt (8.4), passing yards per game (243.8) and passer rating (93.9). In the divisional round, Cincinnati lost to Oakland, 31-28 as a 6.5-point road underdog. The Bengals number 14 played well in the game completing 17 out of 27 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns, but his offensive line struggled to protect him as he was sacked five times by the fierce Raiders pass rush.
Cincinnati would win 10 games in 1976 but did not qualify for the AFC playoffs. Anderson was selected to the Pro-Bowl for the second consecutive season by throwing for 2,367 yards and 19 touchdowns.
From 1977-1980, then Bengals would average five wins and would not qualify for the playoffs through those lean seasons. The Bengals signals caller averaged only 10.8 touchdown passes during that time.
The 1981 season was a spectacular year for the Cincinnati. The team went 12-4, winning the AFC Central and having the best overall record in the AFC. Ken Anderson was fantastic during the season, earning league MVP and Offensive Player of the Year honors. He passed for 3,754 yards, 29 touchdowns, only 10 interceptions, and led the league in passer rating at 98.4. The Bengals and Anderson won their first postseason game, defeating the Buffalo Bills, 28-21 in the divisional round. The Bengals number 14 threw for 192 yards and a touchdown in the win. In the AFC Championship game, matched up with the San Diego Chargers in what would be dubbed “The Freezer Bowl,” as the temperature in Cincinnati was with the wind chill -59 degrees below zero, the Bengals were a 4.5-point home favorite. Anderson led the team to a 27-7 victory completing 14 passes for 161 yards, two touchdowns with an impressive 115.9 passer rating; Cincinnati was on their way to play in Super Bowl XVI, against the NFC Champion, San Francisco 49ers.
Down 20-0 at halftime, Anderson rallied Cincinnati, a one-point underdog, back in the second half, but ultimately fell short, losing 26-21. In defeat, Anderson played excellent and would have been the game’s MVP, if not for San Francisco’s awesome fourth down goal line stand in third quarter. Cincinnati’s star quarterback completed 25 of 34 passes for 300 yards and accounted for three touchdowns (two passing and one rushing). He also put up one of the best passer ratings by a losing quarterback in Super Bowl history at 95.2.
Ken Anderson played in nine games during the strike shortened season of 1982, leading the Bengals to seven wins while throwing 12 touchdowns. Cincinnati was crushed by the New York Jets, 44-17 in the wild card round. He led the league in completions with 218 and set an NFL record for completion percentage in a season at 70.6, which was tied in 2009 by Drew Brees, then broken by Brees in 2011. The Bengals and Anderson never found the success they had in the 1981 season and from 1983 through his final season in 1986, he only started 24 games throwing 25 touchdown passes.
Ken Anderson finished his Bengals career by throwing for 32,838 yards, 190 touchdowns and an 81.9 passer rating. Due to not playing in a bigger market and not winning a Super Bowl, Anderson, who played in four Pro-Bowls and was an All-Pro, seems at times to have been forgotten as one of great quarterbacks on the 1970’s and early 80’s.
