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.
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 | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Ricky Hunley | LB | Arizona | |
| 1 | 16 | Pete Koch | DE | Maryland | |
| 1 | 28 | Brian Blados | OT | North Carolina | |
| 2 | 38 | Boomer Esiason * | QB | Maryland | |
| 3 | 65 | Stanford Jennings | RB | Furman | |
| 4 | 92 | John Farley | RB | Sacramento State | |
| 5 | 119 | Barney Bussey | DB | South Carolina State | |
| 6 | 150 | Don Kern | TE | Arizona State | |
| 7 | 177 | Leo Barker | LB | New Mexico State | |
| 8 | 204 | Bruce Reimers | Guard | Iowa State | |
| 9 | 231 | Bruce Kozerski | Center | Holy Cross | |
| 10 | 262 | Aaron Jackson | LB | North Carolina | |
| 10 | 265 | Brent Ziegler | RB | Syracuse | |
| 11 | 289 | Steve McKeaver | RB | Central State (OK) | |
| 12 | 316 | Steve Raquet | LB | Holy Cross | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Personnel
Staff / Coaches
|
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
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Defensive coaches
Strength and conditioning
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Roster
Quarterbacks (QB)
Running backs (RB) Wide receivers (WR)
Tight ends (TE)
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Offensive linemen (OL)
Defensive linemen (DL)
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Linebackers (LB)
Defensive backs (DB)
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Reserve
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Preseason
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 4 | at New York Jets | W 21–15 | 1–0 | Giants Stadium | 25,055 |
| 2 | August 11 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 13–21 | 1–1 | Tampa Stadium | 33,588 |
| 3 | August 18 | at Chicago Bears | W 25–17 | 2–1 | Soldier Field | 53,194 |
| 4 | August 24 | Detroit Lions | W 35–14 | 3–1 | Riverfront Stadium | 41,715 |
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 2 | at Denver Broncos | L 17–20 | 0–1 | Mile High Stadium | 74,178 | Recap |
| 2 | September 9 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 22–27 | 0–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 47,111 | Recap |
| 3 | September 16 | at New York Jets | L 23–43 | 0–3 | Giants Stadium | 64,193 | Recap |
| 4 | September 23 | Los Angeles Rams | L 14–24 | 0–4 | Riverfront Stadium | 45,406 | Recap |
| 5 | October 1 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 17–38 | 0–5 | Three Rivers Stadium | 57,098 | Recap |
| 6 | October 7 | Houston Oilers | W 13–3 | 1–5 | Riverfront Stadium | 43,637 | Recap |
| 7 | October 14 | at New England Patriots | L 14–20 | 1–6 | Sullivan Stadium | 48,154 | Recap |
| 8 | October 21 | Cleveland Browns | W 12–9 | 2–6 | Riverfront Stadium | 50,667 | Recap |
| 9 | October 28 | at Houston Oilers | W 31–13 | 3–6 | Houston Astrodome | 34,010 | Recap |
| 10 | November 4 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 17–23 | 3–7 | Candlestick Park | 58,324 | Recap |
| 11 | November 11 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 22–20 | 4–7 | Riverfront Stadium | 52,497 | Recap |
| 12 | November 18 | Seattle Seahawks | L 6–26 | 4–8 | Riverfront Stadium | 50,280 | Recap |
| 13 | November 25 | Atlanta Falcons | W 35–14 | 5–8 | Riverfront Stadium | 44,678 | Recap |
| 14 | December 2 | at Cleveland Browns | W 20–17 | 6–8 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 51,774 | Recap |
| 15 | December 9 | at New Orleans Saints | W 24–21 | 7–8 | Louisiana Superdome | 40,855 | Recap |
| 16 | December 16 | Buffalo Bills | W 52–21 | 8–8 | Riverfront Stadium | 55,771 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | |||||||
Game summaries
Week 6
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Week 7
Week 8
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Week 10 (Sunday, November 4, 1984): at San Francisco 49ers
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bengals (3–7) | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 49ers (9–1) | 0 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 23 |
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]
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| CIN | Passing | 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 | |
| SF | Passing | Joe Montana | 27/42, 301 YDS, 2 TDs, 4 INTs |
| Rushing | Wendell Tyler | 14 CAR, 52 YDS | |
| Receiving | Dwight Clark | 7 REC, 124 YDS |
| Scoring summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- Point spread: 49ers by 10½
- Over/Under: 43.0 (under)
- Time of Game:
| Bengals | Game Statistics | 49ers |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | First downs | 26 |
| 25–116 | Rushes–yards | 31–91 |
| 269 | Passing yards | 301 |
| 21–34–2 | Passes | 27–42–4 |
| 6–39 | Sacked–yards | 1–7 |
| 230 | Net passing yards | 294 |
| 346 | Total yards | 385 |
| 144 | Return yards | 190 |
| 6–38.2 | Punts | 2–47.0 |
| 0–0 | Fumbles–lost | 0–0 |
| 6–46 | Penalties–yards | 5–30 |
| 29:24 | Time of Possession | 30:36 |
Week 11
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Standings
| AFC Central | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers(3) | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 6–6 | 387 | 310 | W2 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 5–1 | 6–6 | 339 | 339 | W4 |
| Cleveland Browns | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 3–3 | 4–8 | 250 | 297 | W1 |
| Houston Oilers | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 1–5 | 3–9 | 240 | 437 | L2 |
References
- ^ "We Checked 50 Years of Sports History to Find the Team That Stands Out the Least". August 28, 2018.
- ^ "1984 Cincinnati Bengals Starters, Roster, & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "1984 Cincinnati Bengals (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
- ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-09
- ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-07.
- ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2022-Jun-28.
- ^ Pro Football Reference; Cincinnati Bengals at San Francisco 49ers – November 4, 1984
- ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2013-Dec-25.
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