Cincinnati Bengals snap 33-season Super Bowl drought; here's what was happening in 1988

Party like it's 1988. The Cincinnati Bengals are going to the Super Bowl. With their win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, the Bengals will go to Super Bowl LV, marking their return to the game after 33 seasons.

Cincinnati is two years removed from having the worst record in the NFL. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the Bengals join the 1981 San Francisco 49ers and 2003 Carolina Panthers with the quickest turnaround from worst record to Super Bowl berth.

The Bengals had five consecutive losing seasons prior to 2021. Only the 1999 St. Louis Rams (nine straight seasons) had a longer string of losing seasons prior to reaching the Super Bowl. Breaking that streak worked out for the Rams, who won the Super Bowl that season.

But back to the glorious 1980s and the 1988 season.

The Bengals were the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They led the league in points, total yards and rushing yards. QB Boomer Esiason was the league MVP, throwing for 3,573 yards and 28 touchdowns. They rolled through the playoffs to face the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl. In the team's only other previous appearance, the Bengals lost to the Niners in Super Bowl XVI.

In Super Bowl XXIII, the Bengals would again lose to the 49ers. Jerry Rice had 215 receiving yards to earn MVP honors while Joe Montana threw for 357 yards and two scores. Esiason completed just 44% of his passes for 144 yards and an interception.

1988 was a long time ago. Here's a glimpse of what life was like in 1988.

It's 3 minutes and 50 seconds of pure, stuck-in-your-head, one-hit wonder. Bobby McFerrin's «Don't Worry, Be Happy» was released in 1988 and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. It was the first a cappella song to chart that high.

For all its pop