1984 Cincinnati Bengals season

1984 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Sam Wyche
General manager	Paul Brown
Home field	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	2nd AFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1984 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 17th year in professional football and its 15th with the National Football League (NFL). 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 division rival Pittsburgh 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.

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	Bert 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

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 2, 1984	at Denver Broncos	L 20–17	74,178
2	September 9, 1984	Kansas City Chiefs	L 27–22	47,111
3	September 16, 1984	at New York Jets	L 43–23	64,193
4	September 23, 1984	Los Angeles Rams	L 24–14	45,406
5	October 1, 1984	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 38–17	57,098
6	October 7, 1984	Houston Oilers	W 13–3	43,637
7	October 14, 1984	at New England Patriots	L 20–14	48,154
8	October 21, 1984	Cleveland Browns	W 12–9	50,667
9	October 28, 1984	at Houston Oilers	W 31–13	34,010
10	November 4, 1984	at San Francisco 49ers	L 23–17	58,324
11	November 11, 1984	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 22–20	52,497
12	November 18, 1984	Seattle Seahawks	L 26–6	50,280
13	November 25, 1984	Atlanta Falcons	W 35–14	44,678
14	December 2, 1984	at Cleveland Browns	W 20–17	51,774
15	December 9, 1984	at New Orleans Saints	W 24–21	40,855
16	December 16, 1984	Buffalo Bills	W 52–21	55,771

Game summaries

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total Oilers 0 0 3 0 3 • Bengals 0 3 7 3 13 Date: October 7 Location: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: 63°F; wind 8

Scoring summary Q2 CIN Breech 33 yard field goal CIN 3–0 Q3 HOU Kempf 24 yard field goal Tie 3–3 Q3 CIN Esiason 3 yard run (Breech kick) CIN 10–3 Q4 CIN Breech 22 yard field goal CIN 13–3

^[1]

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total Browns 3 3 0 3 9 • Bengals 3 3 0 6 12 Date: October 21 Location: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 63°F; wind 12

Scoring summary Q1 CIN Breech 24 yard field goal CIN 3–0 Q1 CLE Bahr 50 yard field goal Tie 3–3 Q2 CIN Breech 23 yard field goal CIN 6–3 Q2 CLE Cox 60 yard field goal Tie 6–6 Q4 CIN Breech 25 yard field goal CIN 9–6 Q4 CLE Bahr 47 yard field goal Tie 9–9 Q4 CIN Breech 33 yard field goal CIN 12–9

^[2]

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 13 0 7 20 • Bengals 3 0 12 7 22 Date: November 11 Location: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game attendance: 52,497 Game weather: 43°F; wind 17

Scoring summary Q1 CIN Jim Breech 21 yard field goal CIN 3–0 Q2 PIT Gary Anderson 47 yard field goal Tie 3–3 Q2 PIT Mark Malone 1 yard run (Gary Anderson kick) PIT 10–3 Q2 PIT Gary Anderson 21 yard field goal PIT 13–3 Q3 CIN James Brooks 24 yard run (kick failed) PIT 13–9 Q3 CIN Jim Breech 42 yard field goal PIT 13–12 Q3 CIN Jim Breech 28 yard field goal CIN 15–13 Q4 PIT Louis Lipps 36 yard run (Gary Anderson kick) PIT 20–15 Q4 CIN Larry Kinnebrew 3 yard run (Jim Breech kick) CIN 22–20

^[3]

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers^(3)	9	7	0	.563	5–1	6–6	387	310	W2
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	3–3	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

1. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-09
2. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-07.
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2013-Dec-25.

External links

• 1984 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com