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Enquirer Throwback: Freezer Bowl win sent Bengals to Super Bowl

For the Enquirer’s 175th anniversary this year, we are digging into our archives to showcase historic photographs that capture the people, places, events and character of this community that we have chronicled and been a part of the past 175 years.

The Cincinnati Bengals were at the top of the football heap in January 1982. Led by stellar play from quarterback Ken Anderson, who won MVP honors, the Bengals had finished the season 12-4, then beat the Buffalo Bills for their first ever playoff victory.

On Jan. 10, 1982, the Bengals defeated the San Diego Chargers 27-7 in the AFC Championship Game, now known as “the Freezer Bowl,” one of the coldest games in NFL history.