1984 Cincinnati Bengals season

Last updated

1984 Cincinnati Bengals season
Cincinnati Bengals wordmark (1971-1996).png
General manager Paul Brown
Head coach Sam Wyche
Home field Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record8–8
Division place2nd AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1984 season was the Cincinnati Bengals' 15th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 17th overall, and their first under head coach Sam Wyche. The team lost their first five games, before winning eight of their final eleven games to finish the season with a .500 record.

Contents

The season was the first for head coach Sam Wyche, who had replaced former coach Forrest Gregg after Gregg had resigned following the previous season. Wyche had been the head coach at Indiana University in 1983.

The club stumbled out of the gate, and went winless in September en route to a 1–6 start. However, the team began a turnaround, and by December, was one of the hottest teams in the league. The team won seven out of their last nine games, including a crucial win against their division rival Pittsburgh Steelers in week 11.

In the final week of the season, Cincinnati needed to win, and hope for the Steelers to lose at the Raiders, to secure an improbable AFC Central division title. The Bengals did their part, routing the Bills 52–21, and finished the season 8–8. Later in the day, the Bengals were forced to "scoreboard watch." The Steelers, however, managed to beat the Raiders, clinching the division, and effectively eliminating the Bengals from the playoffs.

In a 2018 article from FiveThirtyEight, the 1984 Cincinnati Bengals team is rated as the most average team in the history of American sports. [1] They both scored and allowed 339 points in addition to their 8–8 record. [2]

Offseason

NFL Draft

1984 Cincinnati Bengals draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
17 Ricky Hunley   LB Arizona
116 Pete Koch   DE Maryland
128 Brian Blados   OT North Carolina
238 Boomer Esiason  *  QB Maryland
365 Stanford Jennings   RB Furman
492John Farley RB Sacramento State
5119 Barney Bussey   DB South Carolina State
6150Don Kern  TE Arizona State
7177 Leo Barker  LB New Mexico State
8204 Bruce Reimers   Guard Iowa State
9231 Bruce Kozerski   Center Holy Cross
10262Aaron Jackson LBNorth Carolina
10265Brent Ziegler RB Syracuse
11289Steve McKeaver RB Central State (OK)
12316Steve Raquet LBHoly Cross
      Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1984 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office

  • Owner/president – John Sawyer
  • Owner/general manager – Paul Brown

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches


Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Kim Wood


Roster

1984 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Preseason

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1August 4at New York Jets W 21–151–0 Giants Stadium 25,055
2August 11at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 13–211–1 Tampa Stadium 33,588
3August 18at Chicago Bears W 25–172–1 Soldier Field 53,194
4August 24 Detroit Lions W 35–143–1 Riverfront Stadium 41,715

[3]

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecap
1September 2at Denver Broncos L 17–200–1 Mile High Stadium 74,178 Recap
2September 9 Kansas City Chiefs L 22–270–2 Riverfront Stadium 47,111 Recap
3September 16at New York Jets L 23–430–3 Giants Stadium 64,193 Recap
4September 23 Los Angeles Rams L 14–240–4Riverfront Stadium45,406 Recap
5October 1at Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–380–5 Three Rivers Stadium 57,098 Recap
6October 7 Houston Oilers W 13–31–5Riverfront Stadium43,637 Recap
7October 14at New England Patriots L 14–201–6 Sullivan Stadium 48,154 Recap
8October 21 Cleveland Browns W 12–92–6Riverfront Stadium50,667 Recap
9October 28at Houston Oilers W 31–133–6 Houston Astrodome 34,010 Recap
10November 4at San Francisco 49ers L 17–233–7 Candlestick Park 58,324 Recap
11November 11 Pittsburgh Steelers W 22–204–7Riverfront Stadium52,497 Recap
12November 18 Seattle Seahawks L 6–264–8Riverfront Stadium50,280 Recap
13November 25 Atlanta Falcons W 35–145–8Riverfront Stadium44,678 Recap
14December 2at Cleveland Browns W 20–176–8 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 51,774 Recap
15December 9at New Orleans Saints W 24–217–8 Louisiana Superdome 40,855 Recap
16December 16 Buffalo Bills W 52–218–8Riverfront Stadium55,771 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 6

1234Total
Oilers00303
• Bengals037313
Scoring summary
Q2CIN Breech 33 yard field goalCIN 3–0
Q3HOU Kempf 24 yard field goalTie 3–3
Q3CIN Esiason 3 yard run (Breech kick)CIN 10–3
Q4CINBreech 22 yard field goalCIN 13–3

[4]

Week 7

Week 8

1234Total
Browns33039
• Bengals330612
Scoring summary
Q1CIN Breech 24 yard field goalCIN 3–0
Q1CLE Bahr 50 yard field goalTie 3–3
Q2CINBreech 23 yard field goalCIN 6–3
Q2CLE Cox 60 yard field goalTie 6–6
Q4CINBreech 25 yard field goalCIN 9–6
Q4CLEBahr 47 yard field goalTie 9–9
Q4CINBreech 33 yard field goalCIN 12–9

[5]

Week 10 (Sunday, November 4, 1984): at San Francisco 49ers

[6]

Week 10: Cincinnati Bengals at San Francisco 49ers
Quarter1234Total
Bengals (3–7)3140017
49ers (9–1)0731323

at Candlestick Park • San Francisco, California

  • Date: November 4, 1984
  • Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C); wind 14 miles per hour (23 km/h; 12 kn)
  • Game attendance: 58,234
  • Referee: Dick Jorgensen
  • TV announcers (NBC): Len Berman (play-by-play) and Gene Washington (color commentator)
  • [7]
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
CINPassing Ken Anderson 21/34, 269 YDS, 1 TD, 2 INTs
Rushing Charles Alexander 8 CAR, 48 YDS
Receiving Cris Collinsworth 4 REC, 71 YDS, 1 TD
SFPassing Joe Montana 27/42, 301 YDS, 2 TDs, 4 INTs
Rushing Wendell Tyler 14 CAR, 52 YDS
Receiving Dwight Clark 7 REC, 124 YDS
  • Point spread: 49ers by 10½
  • Over/Under: 43.0 (under)
  • Time of Game:
BengalsGame Statistics49ers
21First downs26
25–116Rushes–yards31–91
269Passing yards301
21–34–2Passes27–42–4
6–39Sacked–yards1–7
230Net passing yards294
346Total yards385
144Return yards190
6–38.2Punts2–47.0
0–0Fumbles–lost0–0
6–46Penalties–yards5–30
29:24Time of Possession30:36

Week 11

1234Total
Steelers0130720
• Bengals3012722
Scoring summary
Q1CIN Jim Breech 21 yard field goalCIN 3–0
Q2PIT Gary Anderson 47 yard field goalTie 3–3
Q2PIT Mark Malone 1 yard run (Gary Anderson kick)PIT 10–3
Q2PITGary Anderson 21 yard field goalPIT 13–3
Q3CIN James Brooks 24 yard run (kick failed)PIT 13–9
Q3CINJim Breech 42 yard field goalPIT 13–12
Q3CINJim Breech 28 yard field goalCIN 15–13
Q4PIT Louis Lipps 36 yard run (Gary Anderson kick)PIT 20–15
Q4CIN Larry Kinnebrew 3 yard run (Jim Breech kick)CIN 22–20

[8]

Standings

AFC Central
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Pittsburgh Steelers (3)970.5633–36–6387310W2
Cincinnati Bengals 880.5005–16–6339339W4
Cleveland Browns 5110.3133–34–8250297W1
Houston Oilers 3130.1881–53–9240437L2

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References

  1. ↑ "We Checked 50 Years of Sports History to Find the Team That Stands Out the Least". August 28, 2018.
  2. ↑ "1984 Cincinnati Bengals Starters, Roster, & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com .
  3. ↑ "1984 Cincinnati Bengals (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  4. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-09
  5. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-07.
  6. ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2022-Jun-28.
  7. ↑ Pro Football Reference ; Cincinnati Bengals at San Francisco 49ers – November 4, 1984
  8. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2013-Dec-25.
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